Muhammad Hatta

Muhammad Hatta (1902-1980), Indonesian nationalist leader and vice-president. Born in Bukittinggi, Sumatra, he studied in the Netherlands, where he obtained a doctorate in economics in 1932. Returning to Indonesia, he became active in the Indonesian nationalist movement, was arrested by the Dutch in 1934, and was imprisoned on the island of Bandanaira; he was released by the Japanese in 1942. After World War II, Hatta became vice-president under Sukarno of the Indonesian Republic. When the Dutch returned, refusing to recognize the nationalist regime, a bitter war for independence ensued. By 1948 Hatta was prime minister of the struggling government. He represented it at the United Nations-sponsored conference at which the Dutch finally recognized Indonesian independence. As vice-president in the resulting federal regime of Indonesia, he disagreed more and more with President Sukarno's policies, and he resigned in 1956. After Sukarno's fall in 1966, Hatta served the new government in various advisory roles in economic and financial matters.