Teuku Mohammad Hasan

Teuku Mohammad Hasan (EVO: Teoekoe Moehammad Hasan; 4 April 1906 – 21 September 1997) was an Indonesian politician and national hero from Aceh, who served as the first and only governor of Sumatra from 1945 until 1948. He also served as a cabinet minister in Sjafruddin Prawiranegara's emergency cabinet and was a member of both the Senate of the United States of Indonesia (USI) and the Provisional People's Representative Council (DPRS) of the Republic of Indonesia.

Born to an aristocratic family in present-day Aceh, Teuku Mohammad Hasan studied law at Leiden University. During his time there, he joined the Perhimpoenan Indonesia association, becoming involved in the Indonesian independence movement. After graduating in 1933, he returned to Aceh, and became active in the Islamic organization Muhammadiyah. During the Japanese occupation, he was a member of the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence. Following the proclamation of independence, he was appointed governor of Sumatra by the Central Indonesian National Committee. After the fall of the Indonesian government in Yogyakarta, he took part in the emergency government (PDRI) headed by Sjafruddin Prawiranegara. In the PDRI, he filled the position of minister in the ministries of Home Affairs, Religious Affairs, and Education.

Following the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference and the end of national revolution, Teuku Mohammad Hasan served as a senator in the USI. During his time in the senate, he was elected deputy speaker to Melkias Agustinus Pellaupessy. After the dissolution of the USI and the establishment of a unitary state, he served as a member of the DPRS. In the DPRS, he advocated for oil companies operating in the country to be nationalized. He left the DPRS in 1955, and worked for the ministry of Home Affairs. During the New Order regime, he left politics entirely, and focused on education instead. In 1984, he founded the Veranda of Mecca University in Banda Aceh. He died in Jakarta, on 21 September 1997. In 2006, he was named a national hero by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Muhammad Hasan was born on April 4, 1906, as Teuku Sarong, into an aristocratic family in Sigli, Aceh. His father, Teuku Bintara Pineung Ibrahim was an Ulèë Balang in Pidie (Ulèë Balang was an aristocratic class in Aceh who led a district).

He went to Volksschool (Common School) in Lampoeh Saka from 1914-1917. In 1924 he studied at Dutch-language Europeesche Lagere School (RLS), After graduating in 1924, he studied at Koningin Wilhelmina School (KWS) in Batavia (now Jakarta) before attending Rechtshoogeschool (Law High School).

He went to the Netherlands at age 25 to study Law at Leiden University.

During his time in Netherlands, he joined Indonesian student organization Perhimpunan Indonesia and became an independence activist with other Indonesian students like Mohammad Hatta and Sutan Sjahrir.

He graduated as Master of Laws in 1933.