This is RA Kartini's Brother, the First to Study in Europe and Rejected by the State

Long before studying abroad became a common trend, one indigenous figure had already broken those barriers. He was Raden Mas Panji Sosrokartono, the blood brother of Raden Ajeng Kartini. Sosrokartono is known as the first Indonesian to obtain a bachelor’s degree abroad, specifically in the Netherlands. Ironically, however, his intellectual brilliance found no place in his homeland. Born on 10 April 1877 into a priyayi family, Sosrokartono leveraged his social status to pursue higher education all the way to Europe. In the book Sosrokartono: A Biography (1987), he is recorded as having studied at the Polytechnische School te Delft and Leiden University. The pinnacle came in 1908 when he graduated from Leiden with a degree in Eastern Languages and Literature. His intelligence was extraordinary. He mastered dozens of languages from various parts of the world. This ability led him to actively write for various newspapers. His name even appears on the editorial board of Bintang Timoer, a newspaper published in the Netherlands in 1903 under the leadership of Abdul Rivai. His career continued to rise, as Sosrokartono then worked as a war correspondent, covering various international events and writing for media in the Netherlands and the United States. When World War I broke out from 1914 to 1918, he was even trusted to serve as a spokesperson for the Allied nations. His linguistic expertise earned him the nickname “The Genius from the East”. He is recorded as mastering English, Dutch, French, German, Russian, and dozens of other languages. Quoted from Tanah Air Bahasa: A Hundred Traces of the Indonesian Press (2007), that brilliance did not run smoothly when he returned to his homeland. Instead of being welcomed, Sosrokartono was shunned by the Dutch East Indies government. He was considered uncooperative for refusing to work with the colonial government and preferring to support the Indonesian independence struggle. As a result, his room to manoeuvre was restricted. He struggled to find work and was often the target of slander. The relentless pressure gradually eroded his physical condition. From 1942, his health continued to decline until he suffered paralysis. His condition never fully recovered. On 8 February 1952, after years of hardship, Raden Mas Panji Sosrokartono passed away at the age of 74. The figure once celebrated by the world was thus forgotten in his own country.