Slamet Riyadi or whose full name is Ignatius Slamet Rijadi is an Indonesian soldier who served as Brigadier General (Posthumously) TNI at that time. He was born in Surakarta, Central Java, on July 26, 1927, and died on November 4, 1950. Slamet Riyadi was the son of a soldier and a fruit seller. He grew up studying at a Dutch-owned school called Hollandsch-Inlandsche School (HIS) in 1940 and then continued it to MULO Afd B. After the Japanese occupied Indonesia, he continued his education at the Higher Shipping School Education (SPT) where he managed to get a diploma as the best graduate and then went on to work as a navigator of wooden ships sailing between islands in Indonesia.
Slamet Riyadi is one of the heroes who is quite famous in Indonesia thanks to his services for Indonesia back then. When Japan surrendered after the bombings in Hirsoshima and Nagasaki that resulted in the Indonesian independence, the Dutch tried to reclaim Indonesia. The people who did not accept it because it was officially independent, refused and gave resistance to the Dutch. Slamet Riyadi at that time started a guerrilla campaign against the Dutch. During the Dutch general offensive in mid-1947, Slamet Riyadi led Indonesian troops in several areas of Central Java, including Ambarawa and Semarang; he also led sweeping troops along Mount Merapi and Merbabu.
When the Dutch launched a second attack targeting Yogyakarta, which at that time was the capital of Indonesia and also wanted to enter Solo and Klaten, Slamet Riyadi tried to repel them, but in the end they managed to get in. He then adopted a policy of “split and conquer” which succeeded in repelling the Dutch troops in just four days.
After the end of the war, the Republic of South Maluku declared its independence from Indonesia. At that time, Slamet Riyadi was sent to the front on 10 July 1950 as part of Operation Senopati. On October 3, Slamet Riyadi and his troops with Colonel Alexander Ebert Kawilaran, were assigned to capture the rebel capital New Victoria. When Slamet Riyadi’s troops headed for the city through the mangrove swamps which took one month, RMS soldiers armed with forest carbines and Owen’s guns continued to shoot at Slamet Riyadi’s men. By the time he and his troops arrived in New Victoria, the RMS troops continued to fire on them, until when Slamet Riyadi was boarding a tank heading towards the rebel headquarters on November 4th, machine gun shells fired at him and penetrated his armor and stomach. Even though he was given help because Slamet Riyadi insisted on continuing the fight, fate said otherwise. He died that same night and was later buried in Ambon.
Now the name Slamet Riyadi is used as one of the main roads in the city of Solo. At the end of the road there is also a strong and sturdy statue of Slamet Riyadi. The naming of the road and the construction of the Slamet Riyadi statue in Solo is a form of respect for the figure who came from the city of Solo.
