Achmad Soebardjo

Achmad Soebardjo Djojoadisoerjo (EYD: Ahmad Subarjo Joyoadisuryo; 23 March 1896 – 15 December 1978) was an Indonesian diplomat, lawyer, and statesman. He served as the first foreign minister of Indonesia in 1945 shortly after the proclamation of Indonesian independence, and again in 1951–1952 within the Soekiman Cabinet.

Born in Karawang with aristocratic descent, Soebardjo began studying in Leiden University in the Netherlands in 1919. He spent over ten years in Netherlands and in Europe, being active in Indonesian nationalist activism there. He returned to Indonesia in 1934, working as a lawyer and building connections to the Japanese military following a one-year stay in Japan. He would join the military occupation government of Japan in Indonesia after its invasion in 1942. In 1945, he was part of the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence, and took part in the drafting of the Constitution of Indonesia. Following Japan's surrender, Soebardjo played a key role in the leadup to the proclamation of Indonesian independence.

Due to his leadership over Japanese-appointed officials, Soebardjo held significant influence in the newly formed government of Indonesia and was added to the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence. He was appointed foreign minister in its first cabinet formed in September 1945. Soebardjo's two-month tenure was focused on the actual establishment of the foreign ministry and the recruitment of its first staff. His influence waned due to the increasing prominence of Sutan Sjahrir, who became prime minister and foreign minister in November 1945. Soebardjo would join an opposition movement against Sjahrir, culminating in a failed coup attempt in 1946 which caused his imprisonment for much of the rest of the revolutionary period.

Soebardjo was reappointed as foreign minister in the Soekiman Cabinet in 1951, and during this period he signed the Treaty of San Francisco and negotiated aid with the United States. After approving the terms of aid under the Mutual Security Act without prior cabinet knowledge, Soebardjo came under heavy political pressure and resigned in February 1952, the cabinet collapsing shortly after. He continued to work as an advisor to the foreign ministry, and between 1957 to 1961 he was Indonesia's Ambassador to Switzerland and its chief delegate to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Continuing to work for the foreign ministry until 1968, he died in 1978 and was made a National Hero of Indonesia in 2009.