born March 5, 1909, Padangpandjang, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies
died April 9, 1966, Zürich, Switz.
Indonesian nationalist and prime minister.
He received a Dutch education and returned to Indonesia, where he helped found a nationalist party in the 1930s. His party, which favoured adopting Western constitutional democracy, opposed that of Sukarno . He became prime minister after World War II, stripping power from then-president Sukarno, whose collaboration with the Japanese he feared would hurt the republic's image internationally. Sjahrir negotiated an agreement with the Dutch that established Indonesia's authority in Sumatra and Java. Twice forced to resign (1946, 1947), he then formed a socialist party (1948) that failed to win popular support. Sukarno banned it in 1960, and Sjahrir was arrested and imprisoned; He was allowed to travel to Switzerland shortly before his death.