Jarvis, Helen

Tan Malaka was born in 1897 in Suliki, West Sumatra, Indonesia. He came into contact with the Dutch labor movement and became a Marxist while a student in the Netherlands. After returning to Indonesia he became involved in the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), elected chairman in late 1921. In 1922 he was expelled from Indonesia for revolutionary activities and returned to the Netherlands where he became a member of the National Assembly representing the Dutch Communist Party. He established the Party of the Indonesian Republic in 1927 (PARI). He spent the next fifteen years in China. He returned once more to Indonesia in 1942 and after 1945, became an important national leader opposing the government of President Sukarno. He was arrested and executed by the Indonesian Army in 1949.