Sultan Hamid II

Sultan Hamid II
Syarif Abdul Hamid Alkadrie
Sultan Hamid II (right) conversing with Ide Anak Agung Gde Agung (left)
Reign	1945–1950
Predecessor	Sultan Syarif Thaha
Successor	Sultan Syarif Abubakar
Born	12 July 1913 Pontianak, Pontianak Sultanate
Died	30 March 1978 (aged 64) Jakarta, Indonesia
House	Hang Dynasty Alkadrie
Father	Sultan Syarif Muhammad
Religion	Sunni Islam

Sultan Hamid II, born Syarif Abdul Hamid Alkadrie (Arabic: شريف عبد الحميد القادري‎‎ Šarīf ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Qādrī; 12 July 1913 – 30 March 1978) was the eight Sultan of Pontianak and the only President of the State of West Kalimantan from 1946 to its disestablishment in 1950. He was the eldest son of Sultan Syarif Muhammad Alkadrie. He was of mixed Malay-Arab ancestry and was raised by two British nationals— Salome Catherine Fox and Edith Maud Curteis.

His wife was a young Dutch woman who bore him two children – both reside in the Netherlands. During the Indonesian National Revolution, he was sympathetic to the returning Dutch and their attempts to implement a federal Republic of the United States of Indonesia, viewing the unitary Republic of Indonesia as an extension of Javanese domination. He was also a colonel in the Royal Dutch East Indies Army and designed the Indonesian national emblem—Garuda Pancasila.

Until the age of 12, Hamid was raised by Scottish foster-mother Salome Catherine Fox and fellow British expatriate Edith Maud Curteis. Salome Fox was the sister of the head of a British trading firm based in Singapore. Under their tutelage, Hamid became fluent in English. In 1933, Miss Fox died but he still remained in touch with her companion Curteis.