Wage Rudolf Soepratman is known as the creator of the Indonesian national anthem entitled “Indonesia Raya” as well as one of Indonesia’s national heroes. Born on March 9, 1903, his birthday is designated as the national music day of the Republic of Indonesia.
W.R Soepratman was born in Jatinegara who was the son of Djumeno Senen Sastrosoehardjo, a soldier from the Dutch East Indies Kingdom and his mother named Siti Senen. He moved to Makassar with his older sister and has been learning Dutch since attending school for three years.
At the age of 20, Soepratman became a teacher at Sekolah Angka 2 and two years later he received a Klein Ambtenaar certificate. Meanwhile, Soepratman received music lessons from his brother-in-law, Willem van Eldik while living in Makassar so that he was good at playing the violin and composing songs.
While living in Jakarta, he became interested in national movement organizations and got to know many movement figures. His enthusiasm rose when he read Timboel magazine published by Solo which challenged Indonesian music experts to create the national anthem. Although there are no definite records, some say the song was created in 1926.
On October 28, 1928, during the Second Youth Congress, this song was announced in public for the first time. Due to the circulation of the song, WR. Soepratman was often interrogated by the Dutch.
After composing his last song, ‘Matahari Terbit’ in August 1938, he was arrested in Malang. WR Supratman then died on August 17, 1938 due to illness.
