Ki Hajar Dewantara

1889 – 1959

Ki Hajar Dewantara (1889 – 1959) was a leading Indonesian independence movement activist, writer, columnist, politician, and pioneer of education for native Indonesians in Dutch colonial times. He founded the Taman Siswa school, an institution that provided education for indigenous commoners, which otherwise was limited to the Javanese aristocracy and the Dutch colonials. He was honored as a National Hero of Indonesia by Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, on 28 November 1959.