G. R. Pantouw

Godlief Rudolf Pantouw (born 30 October 1910) was an Indonesian politician and businessman of Minahasan descent. He served in the cabinet of the State of East Indonesia as minister of social affairs and minister of information in 1947. He was also active in the Indonesian nationalist movement, having been a member of various youth organizations. He later became a lecturer at Hasanuddin University.

Early life and career Godlief Rudolf Pantouw was born in Manado, a city in present-day North Sulawesi, on 30 October 1910.

As a minister, Pantouw was mainly concerned with tackling the social problems facing the Indonesian people. He was aware of the NIT's reputation as a Dutch puppet state, but was determined to use the state as a tool to push the Dutch into abandoning colonialism. He argued that "it was impossible for the newly proclaimed Republic of Indonesia — which had no power, no army, and no weapons in this part of the country — to fight the Dutch effectively" therefore joining the NIT was essential to advance the cause of Indonesian independence given the political conditions at the time. The revolution eventually came to an end in 1949, but nationalists continued their goal of disbanding the NIT and re-establishing a unitary state. The Makassar Uprising accelerated reunification talks and the NIT was dissolved into the republic in 1950.

Later career Pantouw became a lecturer at the Djakarta Journalist Academy in the 1950s, together with Parada Harahap and Sitor Situmorang. During the 1960s, he taught at the newly created College of Press and Publication, a private college for journalistic education, which was merged into Hasanuddin University. Thereafter, he served as head of the university's journalism study program.