I Gusti Ketut Pudja
I Gusti Ketut Pudja (19 May 1908 – 4 May 1977) was an Indonesian politician and national hero, who served as the first governor of Lesser Sunda from 1945 until 1946. He was a member of the Investigating Agency for Preparatory Work for Indonesian Independence (BPUPK). He was also present at Admiral Tadashi Maeda's house, during the preparation for the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence on 17 August 1945. Making him the only Balinese to be present during the proclamation. Pudja was born on 19 May 1908 in Singaraja, Bali. He graduated from Rechtshoogeschool in Batavia (now Jakarta), and he started working in the Bali and Lombok Residency Office in Singaraja, in 1935. A year later, he was placed in the Raad van Kerta, a court in Bali at that time. Pudja was a member of the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI), formed on 7 August 1945, to continue the work begun by the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (BPUPK). Following the proclamation of independence, he was appointed governor of Lesser Sunda by president Sukarno. He died on 4 May 1977. On 7 November 2011, based on Presidential Decree No. 113/TK/2011, the government honored I Gusti Ketut Pudja as a national hero. In 2016, Bank Indonesia decided I Gusti Ketut Pudja as one of 12 national heroes whose figures were painted on Indonesia's new currency. The figure of Pudja can be found on the IDR 1,000 denomination. Biography Early life I Gusti Ketut Pudja was born in Sukasada, Singaraja, Bali, on 19 May 1908. He was the son of I Gusti Nyoman Raka, the Punggawa of Sukasada, and Jero Ratna Kusuma, the daughter of I Gusti Nyoman Ide Gempol. He was the youngest of five siblings. He was initially educated at the Tweede Inlandsche School (TIS), before going to the Hollandsch-Inlandsche School (HIS). He continued his education to the Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (MULO) in Malang, where graduated in 1926. He again continued his education to the Algemene Middelbare School (AMS) in Bandung, graduating in 1929, and then entering the Rechtshoogeschool in Jakarta. There, he graduated in 1934, at the age of 26, earning his Master of Laws, and promptly returning to Bali shortly thereafter. In 1935, he worked at the Bali and Lombok Resident office in Singaraja. In 1936, he was placed in the Raad van Kerta, a court in Bali at that time. During the Japanese Occupation of the Dutch East Indies, he was appointed as a member of the Raad van Kerta, in Badung, Denpasar, and was given the task of setting up the civil government. Thereafter, he was appointed to work at the Chookan office as Redjikan Dairi. In August 1943, he was appointed a member of Syu Kaigi and was later appointed administrative adviser to the Japanese until the end of the war in 1945. Independence Struggle Committee for Independence On 7 August 1945, the Japanese announced the formation of the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI), as a replacement for the Investigating