Prijono

Prijono (20 July 1907 – 6 March 1969 ) was an Indonesian politician and academic. Prijono was a leading figure of the Murba Party and the Indonesian Peace Committee.

Academic Prijono studied in Paris and obtained a Ph.D. at the Leiden University (studying medieval Javanese texts).

Minister Prijono was appointed as Minister of Basic Education and Culture in the Djuanda Cabinet formed in 1957. His appointment was met with opposition from anti-Communist sectors, who claimed that he was linked to the Communist Party of Indonesia. Prijono continued to serve as a minister in all cabinets until the end of the Sukarno period. As a government minister, Prijono was frequently targeted by the army and Islamic organizations. From 1961 Prijono would share the Ministry of Education with Sjarif Thajeb (a high-ranking officer with links to Islamic organizations, Minister of Higher Education and Science). And whilst Prijono promoted secularism in the primary and secondary education system, Sjarif Thajeb introduced compulsory classes on religion in the universities. Thus the wider political confrontation between the army and the Communist Party was reproduced within the walls of the Ministry of Education.

Honour Foreign honour