This started the Indonesian National Revolution against the British and Dutch. On August 17, 1945, after the news of Allied victory over Japan reached Indonesia, Sukarno proclaimed Indonesian independence.

The Nationalist forces loyal to Sukarno switched their support to the incoming Allies against Japan. However as the war went on, Indonesians opposed harsh treatment by the Japanese military and wartime rationing. He worked as a typist for a Japanese newspaper in Jakarta. He believed the Japanese to be bad but better than the Dutch. Pramoedya went to the Radio Vocational School in Surabaya but had just graduated when Japan invaded Surabaya in 1942.ĭuring World War II, Pramoedya supported the occupying forces of Imperial Japan at first. So, he removes 'Mas' and kept Toer as his family name. The Javanese prefix 'Mas' means a man of the higher rank in a noble family. But he felt that the family name Mastoer was too aristocratic. As it is written in his semi-autobiographical collection of short stories 'Cerita Dari Blora', his name was originally Pramoedya Ananta Mastoer. His maternal grandfather had made the pilgrimage to Mecca. His father was also active in Boedi Oetomo (the first recognized indigenous national organization in Indonesia). Pramoedya was born on February 6, 1925, in Blora in central Java, then a part of the Dutch East Indies.

During the many years he suffered in prison and house arrest, human rights advocates fought for his freedom of expression. He was outspoken against colonialism, racism and the corruption of the Indonesian Government. Often, he did not make direct political criticisms. Pramoedya was against some policies of Indonesia's first President, Sukarno, and against the New Order regime of Suharto. Then it was written down and smuggled out. The prison did not allow him to have writing materials, so he told the story aloud to other prisoners. He created his most famous work, the Buru Quartet, on the prison island. Suharto thought Pramoedya was still loyal to the Sukarno government even though Pramoedya had struggled with Sukarno. Suharto put him in prison from 1969 to 1979 on the Maluku island called Buru. During the coup when Suharto gained power, Pramoedya was involved in political fighting. The Dutch imprisoned him from 1947 to 1949 during the War of Independence.

They often censored his writing in Indonesia even though he was well known outside his home country. Later, the Suharto government sent him to a prison island from 1965 to 1979.Ĭolonial and later authoritarian governments did not approve of Pramoedya's writings. The Dutch Government put him in prison him from 1947 to 1949. His writing includes much personal and national history. He wrote novels, short stories, essays, and histories of Indonesia and its people. Pramoedya Ananta Toer (6 February 1925 – 30 April 2006) was an Indonesian writer.

House of Glass by Pramoedya Ananta Toer