Mohammad Hatta or often called Bung Hatta was the first Vice President of Indonesia. Mohammad Hatta was born in Bukit tinggi, West Sumatera on August 12th, 1902. His father is Haji Mohammad Djamil and his mother is Siti Saleha. His father died when he was eight months old. Hatta married to Rahmi Hatta on November 18th, 1945. The couple had three children named Meutia Farida Hatta, Gemala Rabi’ah Hatta, and Halida Nuriah Hatta.
Hatta
started his education at a private school named Sekolah Melayu. Then he
went to ELS (European Language School). He continued his school to MULO
(Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs). Hatta began to show his interested
in politics and national movement since he was sixteen years old. He
joined Jong Sumatranen Bond and he was chosen as the treasurer.
In
1919, Hatta went to Hogere Burgerschool (HBS) in Batavia (Jakarta). He
finished his study with distinction in 1921 and he was allowed to
continue his study to Rotterdam School of Commerce in Netherlands. He
took economics as his major and got a doctorandus degree. He then
continued to pursue his doctorate degree, but he didn’t finish his
thesis because politics had taken over his life.
In
Netherlands Hatta joined the Indische Vereeniging. In 1922, Indische
Vereeniging changed its named to Indonesische Vereeniging (Perhimpoenan
Indonesia). Hatta was the treasurer from 1922-1925 and then he became
the chairman from 1926-1930. Perhimpoenan Indonesia then changed from a
student organization to political organization that demand for
Indonesia’s Independence. It expressed its voice through a magazine
called Indonesia Merdeka of which Hatta was the editor.
Hatta
attended congresses all over Europe to gain more support from other
nations, he always as the chairman of Indonesia delegation. By the
middle of 1927, Perhimpoenan Indonesia’s activites had alarmed the Dutch
authorities. On June 1927, Dutch authorities put Hatta and four other
Indonesian activists in jail. In 1929, Hatta and other Perhimpoenan
Indonesia activists were released.
