Nani Soedarsono

Nani Soedarsono was an Indonesian politician and diplomat who served as the first Minister of Basic Education and Culture from 1964 to 1966. She was born on 28 March 1928 in Salatiga, Dutch East Indies. She studied law at the University of Indonesia, but did not graduate. She joined the Indonesian Red Cross Society during the Indonesian National Revolution and worked as an English radio broadcaster at Voice of Free Indonesia. She also participated in a diplomatic and consular course at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and became a politics and consular staffer in 1947. She moved to New York and worked as a permanent representative of Indonesia to the United Nations for three years. She returned to Jakarta and worked as Head of Social Affairs of the United Nations Directorate until 1958. She then served as Head of Politics of the Embassy of Indonesia in Rome, Italy, and later at the Directorate of International Organization Ministry of Foreign Affairs until 1964. She was appointed as the Minister of Basic Education and Culture by President Sukarno in 1964, although she had no educational background. Her appointment aimed to resolve the conflict between two blocs in the education department, the Serikat Sekerja Pendidikan (SSP, Education Workers' Union) and Serikat Sekerja Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan (SSPK, Education and Culture Worker's Union). She held this position until February 1966, when she was replaced by Sjarif Thajeb. In 1966, she returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was appointed secretary general. Then, in 1971, she became Inspector general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until 1973. She also served as the Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland and Austria, and as the Chairperson of the IAEA Board of Governors. She co-founded the Gerwis, an Indonesian women's organization, in 1950, which was later renamed as Gerwani. She left the organization in 1965, after it was accused of being involved in the 1965 coup attempt. She died at the age of 89, on 19 April 2011, at the Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia, after being hospitalized for two weeks. She had been in failing health and confined to her bedroom for the prior year. She was survived by her two sons and several grandchildren. She was buried at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in Jakarta.