Ir. Soekarno or better known as Bung Karno was born on June 6, 1901 in Surabaya, East Java, with the first name Koesno Sosrodihardjo. Soekarno is the son of Raden Soekemi Sosrodihardjo and Ida Ayu Nyoman Rai.
In his childhood he was often sick, so he was cared for by his older brother, Raden Hardjodikromo, in Tulungagung. After living with his older brother, Soekarno returned to his parents’ house in Mojokerto in 1909. In Mojokerto, his father was assigned as head of the Eerste Inlandse School (ELS) and Soekarno also attended school there. Since living back with his parents, he changed his name from Koesno to Soekarno so that he would not be sickly and could grow up healthy.
Since childhood, Soekarno had indeed become an accomplished child and was able to master many languages. In 1911, he moved again to ELS which was equivalent to an elementary school (SD) which was specially prepared to enter the Hogere Burger School (HBS) in Surabaya. In 1915, he also finished school at ELS and then lived at the house of his father’s best friend, Raden Hadji Oemar Said Tjokroaminoto or H.O.S Tjokroaminoto, who was the founder of the Islamic Union. From there thenSoekarno began to know the world of struggle which finally made him want to fight for the Indonesian nation. Studying at HBS gave him many experiences and lessons, until he finally graduated in 1921.
