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T. B. Simatupang
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Portrait of Simatupang, 1955
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| 2nd Chief of Staff of the War Forces of the Republic of Indonesia | |
| In office 29 January 1950 – 4 November 1953 | |
| President | Sukarno |
| Preceded by | Lt. General Sudirman |
| Succeeded by | General Abdul Haris Nasution (1955) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Tahi Bonar Simatupang (1920-01-28)28 January 1920 Sidikalang, Dairi, Tapanoeli, Dutch East Indies |
| Died | 1 January 1990(1990-01-01) (aged 69) Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Resting place | Kalibata Heroes Cemetery |
| Spouse | Sumarti Budiardjo |
| Relatives | Sahala Hamonangan Simatupang (brother) |
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| Years of service | 1942–1959 |
| Rank | Lieutenant general |
| Unit | Engineers |
| Commands | Indonesian Armed Forces |
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| Awards | National Hero of Indonesia (posthumous, 2013) |
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Tahi Bonar Simatupang (28 January 1920 – 1 January 1990) was a soldier who served in the Indonesian National Revolution and went on to become chief of staff of the Indonesian Armed Forces.
Simatupang was born in Dairi, North Sumatra, then part of the Dutch East Indies to a Batak Protestant family.[1] Simatupang attended a Dutch colonial school and then moved to Jakarta in 1937 for further study. Among his friends in the Batak youth in Batavia during that time were Oloan Hutapea and Josef Simanjutak, future high-ranking Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) members Lintong Mulia Sitorus, future Indonesian Socialist Party secretary general.[2] In 1942, he gained entry to the Dutch Military Academy, but his studies were interrupted by the Japanese invasion.[3] During the Japanese occupation, Simatupang rented a house with Sitorus and Hutapea in the Tanah Tinggi district of Batavia.[4] He notes that other Batak youth called them De Drie Musketiers, that they were often together attending lectures by people such as Sutan Sjahrir and collecting books about independence movements in other countries.[4]
During the Indonesian National Revolution, Simatupang, now a colonel, joined the Siliwangi DivisioninCentral Java, and by January 1950, following the death of General Sudirman, he was acting chief of staff of the Indonesian Armed Forces (Angkatan Perang).[5] Like Army Chief of Staff General Nasution, he was an "administrator", committed to the reduction in size of the armed forces after independence had been won to bring about a professional military. He opposed efforts by a disgruntled rival, Colonel Bambang Supemo, to replace Nasution, but was himself criticized for apparent political bias after articles he wrote in 1952 were perceived as favoring the Socialist Party of Indonesia (PSI). After the incident on 17 October 1952, in which the army brought demonstrators and troops to the Merdeka Palace to persuade President Sukarno to dissolve parliament, Simatupang's days were numbered, and on 4 November 1953, his post as chief of staff was abolished, effectively dismissing him.[6] He then took a position as an adviser to the Ministry of Defense and then became a lecturer at the Army Staff College and the Military Legal Academy before resigning from the military altogether in 1959.[3]
After his resignation, Simatupang devoted his life to religious duties and writing. He died in Jakarta on the first day of 1990.[3] In November 2013, Simatupang, together with Rajiman Wediodiningrat and Lambertus Nicodemus Palar, was declared a National Hero of Indonesia.[7]
T.B. Simatupang is now used as a street nameinCilandak, South Jakarta, and his face was depicted in 2016-issue 500 rupiah coins.[8]
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| Preceded by as Commander of the War Forces | Chief of Staff of the Indonesian War Forces 1950–1953 |
Succeeded by as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff |
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