He was born into the Sumatran aristocracy. His grandfather, Mangaraja Monang, was a Batak nobleman – who had been baptized into Christianity and named Ephraim – with the title of Sutan Gunung Tua. Amir's father, Djamin, was also a noblemen, with the title of Sultan Soripada Harahap, however he later left the religion and became a Muslim, after marrying Amir's mother, Basunu Siregar, a devout Muslim woman who came from a well-respected family from the Malay-Islamic community. Amir was the eldest child of seven children, and was given the title of Sutan Gunung Sualoon. He came from a family of prosecutors, with both his grandfather and father practicing the profession. Amir began his education in 1914, when he attended the Europeesche Lagere School (ELS) in Medan. However, in 1916, he was forced to attend a different ELS in Sibolga, as his father was transferred there. In August 1921, he and his older cousin, Todung Sutan Gunung Mulia, left for the Netherlands. There, he resided with the Smink family in Haarlem, 29 kilometers north of Leiden. He continued his education to the Gymnasium in Haarlem, though Mulia returned to Indonesia, as he had completed his schooling already. After only a year at the Haarlem Gymnasium, he moved to the State Gymnasium of Leiden. In Leiden, Amir stayed at the house of Mrs. Antonie Aris van de Losdrecht–Sizzo, a widow of the evangelist and missionary Antonie Aris van de Loosdrecht, who was killed in Tana Toraja in 1913. He became involved in the Batak student organization Jong Batak, and was becoming increasingly interested in Christianity and the Bible. As a student, he would become a member of the Perhimpoenan Indonesia ("Indonesian Association"), under the leadership of future-Indonesian vice president Mohammad Hatta. During his time in Leiden, he began to be admire and be influenced by the Count of Mirebeau, Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, and Maximillien Robespierre, both of whom would influence Amir in his later career. He returned to Indonesia following family troubles, as his father had lost his job as Chief Prosecutor because he punched a prisoner. He would continue his education at the Rechts Hogeschool, and later converted from Islam to Christianity in 1931, being baptized in the Huria Church, in Batavia. He would go on to give sermons at the church. Journalism and World War II Throughout the 1930s, Amir was active in literary and journalistic circles, joining the editorial