Soepomo (EYD: Supomo; 22 January 1903 – 12 September 1958) was an Indonesian politician and lawyer who served as the country's first Minister of Justice from August until November 1945 and again from December 1949 until 6 September 1950. Known as the father of Indonesia's constitution, he was posthumously declared an Indonesian National Hero by President Sukarno in 1965. Early life and education Soepomo was born on 22 January 1903, in Sukoharjo, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). He came from a noble family; his maternal and paternal grandfathers were both high-ranking government officials. He began his education in 1917, when he was enrolled at a Europeesche Lagere School (ELS) in Boyolali. He graduated in 1920, and continued his studies to a Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (MULO) in Surakarta. In 1923, he moved to Batavia (now Jakarta) and attended the Rechts Hogeschool (RHS). After graduating from RHS, he took a job at a court in Surakarta, before leaving for the Netherlands to pursue further education. In the Netherlands, he enrolled at Leiden University, and studied law under Cornelis van Vollenhoven. He graduated in 1927, with his thesis, entitled "Agrarian System Reform in the Surakarta Area", containing both a description of the agrarian system in Surakarta and veiled critiques of Dutch colonialism. When he returned home, he became a court employee in Yogyakarta, later being transferred to the Justice Department in Batavia. While serving at the Justice Department, he took a side job as a guest lecturer at the RHS. He then joined the Jong Java youth association, and wrote a paper entitled "Indonesian Women in Law", which he presented together with future-Prime Minister Ali Sastroamidjojo at the 1928 Women's Congress. Promulgation of the constitution On 1 March 1945, the final year of the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, the Japanese administration established the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (BPUPK) on 1 March 1945 to work on "preparations for independence in the region of the government of this island of Java". Soepomo became one of the 62 members. In the first session, which lasted from 29 May to 1 June, he expressed support for the future Indonesia to be a strong unitary state, arguing that it was in accordance with Indonesian societal norms. He also spoke out against the idea of an Islamic state. On 1 June 1945, future president Sukarno made a speech, in which he outlined the future basis