43 Facts About Johannes Latuharhary

Johannes Latuharhary was an Indonesian politician and nationalist of Moluccan descent, who served as the first Indonesian governor of Maluku from 1945 until 1955, though he did not assume office in Maluku until 1950.

Johannes Latuharhary later resigned from his position as judge and became an advocate and politician, merging the Sarekat with the mainstream movement of Indonesian nationalism after initial rifts caused by the issue of religion in politics.

Johannes Latuharhary moved to Jakarta and worked under the Department of Home Affairs during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies to manage Moluccans in Java, being arrested three times for different reasons.

Johannes Latuharhary unsuccessfully championed federalism and opposed the inclusion of religion in government through the Jakarta Charter and later opposing the formation of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Johannes Latuharhary eventually took office in 1950, where he attempted to establish the government and rebuild the ruined city of Ambon, before he was removed from his post.

Johannes Latuharhary was born on 6 July 1900, in Ullath, Saparua, in what was then the Dutch East Indies, to the couple of Jan Johannes Latuharhary, a school teacher in a neighboring village, and Josefin Hiarej.

Johannes Latuharhary initially studied at the local first grade school in Saparua which taught students the Dutch language, but he later moved to Ambon at the age of 9 to study at a Europeesche Lagere School there.

Johannes Latuharhary studied there up until 1917, before he moved to Batavia for higher education.

Johannes Latuharhary joined the Sarekat Ambon and worked on its reorganization after its leader Alexander Jacob Patty was exiled to Bengkulu then Digul.

Johannes Latuharhary was assigned as the chief editor of the SA's official newspaper Haloean, and applied for the SA to be granted legal status in 1930, though it did not receive it until 1933.

Johannes Latuharhary formed a trade cooperative for Moluccans in response to the economic hardships from the Great Depression.

Johannes Latuharhary wrote that the Dutch education system for the Moluccans was geared towards creating "scribes and clerks, soldiers and sailors".

Johannes Latuharhary later resigned from being chief judge following an ultimatum from the colonial government to pick between his job or being part of the nationalist movement, and he became a lawyer instead.

Johannes Latuharhary won the case and gained local renown in East Java, and he was elected a member of the Regentschapsraad of Kraksaan.

Johannes Latuharhary moved with his family to Malang in 1934 and later was elected to East Java's Provinciale Raad.

Johannes Latuharhary was a member of the council until 1942.

Johannes Latuharhary was later named as chairman of the Jong Ambon upon the organization's founding in 1936.

Three years later, Johannes Latuharhary ran for a seat in the Volksraad, campaigning in Ambon.

Johannes Latuharhary later joined the Great Indonesia Party, a pro-independence political party.

In September 1942, Johannes Latuharhary moved to the recently renamed Jakarta, where he took care of the wives and children of Moluccan and Timorese soldiers who were arrested or had evacuated to Australia.

In 1944, a group of Ambonese including Johannes Latuharhary were arrested by the Kenpeitai and brought to Bogor as they were suspected of espionage for the Allied forces, and due to the fact that Johannes Latuharhary had partly used his position within the Japanese administration for political purposes.

Johannes Latuharhary had called a meeting of Ambonese leaders in Java in May 1945 and informed them that Japanese authorities wanted the Ambonese to stop resistance activities and instead participate in the independence movement.

At the BPUPK, Johannes Latuharhary proposed the formation of a federal state over a unitary state, though proposal was shot down after only 2 out of 19 members of the BPUPK voted for it.

Johannes Latuharhary was appointed Governor of Maluku in the PPKI's 19 August 1945 meeting, alongside governors for seven other formed provinces.

Later on, Johannes Latuharhary joined the Central Indonesian National Committee and was elected as one of its deputy speakers in the body's first session.

Johannes Latuharhary then called for the community leaders of the Moluccan communities in Java for a meeting in Jakarta on 6 October 1945.

Johannes Latuharhary spoke with Sukarno, requesting to be granted authority in Java and Sumatra to be able to manage Moluccans there, but he was initially denied.

Later, Hatta intervened and Johannes Latuharhary's request was granted with the condition that the authority would be transferred to another appointed official upon Johannes Latuharhary's departure to Maluku.

Shortly afterwards, Johannes Latuharhary issued another call for Moluccans to join the revolutionary cause and later in December 1945 established offices in urban centers across Java to arrange for the safety and return of Moluccans.

Johannes Latuharhary pushed for the Indonesian government to recognize the State of East Indonesia as part of the United States of Indonesia, which it did in January 1948 with Johannes Latuharhary being sent as the envoy.

Politically, Johannes Latuharhary was affiliated with the Indonesian National Party, where he was a member of its central leadership in the organizational section.

In December 1948, following a split within the PNI over negotiations between Hatta and the Dutch, Johannes Latuharhary left the PNI and joined the Great Indonesia Unity Party under Wongsonegoro.

Johannes Latuharhary arrived in an Ambon devastated by fighting between TNI and the RMS on 12 December 1950.

Johannes Latuharhary began reestablishing the government, recruiting former SA members and some former colonial civil servants to fill in government positions.

Johannes Latuharhary eliminated the South Maluku area and split it into two halves: the Central Maluku and Southeast Maluku regencies.

Johannes Latuharhary pushed for the status to be removed in entirety.

Johannes Latuharhary died on 8 November 1959, after having fallen in a coma on 6 November.

Johannes Latuharhary fell comatose in his house as he was preparing to depart for a church meeting, and he was brought to the Dr Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital.

Johannes Latuharhary was buried in the Kalibata Heroes' Cemetery the following day, with fellow Ambonese nationalist leader Johannes Leimena delivering his eulogy.

In 1965, the cargo vessel Johannes Latuharhary was briefly detained in the United States during a period of tensions with Indonesia.

Australian historian Richard Chauvel wrote that Johannes Latuharhary was "the first Ambonese leader to formulate an argument for Ambon's inclusion in an independent Indonesia and to consider Ambonese as Indonesians".

One can be opposed politically with Johannes Latuharhary, but regarding his struggle, honesty and patriotism, that is rarely found.

Padang credited Johannes Latuharhary with establishing the foundations for governance in Maluku during the difficult times of the RMS rebellion.