Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo

Dr. Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo or Cipto Mangunkusumo (4 March 1886 in Pecangakan, Ambarawa, Semarang – 8 March 1943 in Batavia) was a prominent Indonesian independence leader and Sukarno's political mentor. Together with Ernest Douwes Dekker and Soewardi Soerjaningrat he was one of the three founders of the influential Indische Party, a political party disseminating the idea of self-government of the Dutch East Indies. After the party was labeled subversive by colonial court of law in 1913, he and his fellow IP leaders were exiled to the Netherlands.

Tjipto advocated an Indies-based nationalism rather than Javanese nationalism. Unlike other Javanese nationalist leaders, Tjipto's belief in democracy remained strong until the end of this life and in his view the traditional character of feudal Javanese civilization had to change. He considered western education and its subsequent social and cultural dislocation as indispensable in creating a revolutionary atmosphere. He disagreed with Budi Utomo's emphasis on the reinvigoration of traditional Javanese civilization. In a 1916 debate he stated: “The psyche of the Javanese people needs to be changed to such an extent that a change of language, or more cynically a killing of a language becomes urgent. Only in this way will it be possible to build another language on its ruins and also another civilization."

Tjipto married his Indo (Eurasian) wife Marie Vogel in 1920.

When the three IP leaders returned to the Dutch East Indies his two compagnons eventually took the path of education, while Tjipto always remained politically active. After his exile he was involved in the 'Insulinde (Political Party)' which was transformed into the new 'Nationaal Indische Party' of which he became one of the leaders and its representative in the Peoples Assembly (Dutch: Volksraad (Dutch East Indies)).

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