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Mr.
Besar Mertokusumo
Mr. Besar Mertokusumo
Born	July 8, 1894; Brebes, Dutch East Indies
Died	February 23, 1980 (aged 85)
Resting place	Giritama Cemetery, Bogor, Indonesia
Nationality	Indonesian
Alma mater	Leiden University
Occupation	Advocate
Spouse	Raden Ayu Majatoen
Children	4

Besar Mertokusumo (also spelled Besar Martokusumo; 8 July 1894 – c. 1980) was an Indonesian advocate, said by Daniel S. Lev to be the first.

Early life and education

Mertokusumo was born in Brebes, Central Java, Dutch East Indies on 8 July 1894^[1] to a prosecutor and his wife;^[2] he was the first of two children. ^[3] He attended elementary school at a Europeesche Lagere School in Pekalongan, graduating in 1909.^[1] He then attended the Rechtschool in Batavia, which he graduated in 1915;^[1] there, he lived with numerous other Indonesian students under the supervision of a Dutchwoman, studying criminal law.^[3] After several years as the Official Seconded (Dutch: Ambtenaar Ter Beschikking) at the Landraad (state court) in Pekalongan, he received a grant to go to Leiden, Netherlands, to study at Leiden University together with eleven others.^[1]^[3] He graduated in 1922.^[1]

Legal and political career

After being refused equal legal status with the Dutch, Mertokusumo decided to become an advocate.^[4] He later established a law firm in Tegal, not far from his family in Brebes;^[5] at the time, there were few Dutch lawyers there.^[6] Despite a lack of support from his family,^[4] after a few years he was able to open a second branch in Semarang, attracting young lawyers to his firm with wages up to 600 gulden a month.^[5]

During the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, Mertokusumo served as the mayor of Tegal in April 1942; he was the first Native Indonesian mayor.^[1] In 1944 he became the regent of Tegal Regency.^[1] Towards the end of the Japanese occupation, he joined the Committee for Preparatory Work for Indonesian Independence and became the Assistant Resident of Pekalongan.^[1]

After independence, Mertokusumo served as secretary general of the Department of Justice.^[1]

Mertokusumo died at age 86^[7] on 23 February 1980.^[8] He is buried in Giritama Cemetery, Bogor.^[7]

Legacy

American scholar of Indonesia Daniel S. Lev has called Mertokusumo Indonesia's first advocate,^[9] noting that he often represented poor Indonesian defendants in the Landraad, where they would be forced to sit on the floor.^[5] Lev writes that Mertokusumo "broke the ice" for Indonesian advocates.^[4]

On 17 August 1992, Mertokusumo received the Bintang Mahaputra posthumously for his legal work.^[7]

Personal life

Mertokusumo was married to Raden Ayu Majatoen, with whom he had four children.^[1]

References

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Bahari 2011, p. 16.
^ Bahari 2011, p. 18.
^ ^a ^b ^c Lev 2000, pp. 261–263.
^ ^a ^b ^c Lev 2000, p. 265.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bahari 2011, p. 17.
^ Lev 2000, p. 264.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bahari 2011, p. 19.
^ "Makam Giritama". makamgiritama.com. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
^ Lev 2000, p. 261.

Bibliography

Bahari, Adib (2011). Pendekar Hukum Indonesia [Indonesian Legal Giants] (in Indonesian). Yogyakarta: Pustaka Yustisis. ISBN 978-979-3411-04-0.
Lev, Daniel (2000). Legal Evolution and Political Authority in Indonesia: Selected Essays. Boston: Kluwer Law International. ISBN 978-90-411-1421-1.