Commemorating Frans Kaisiepo, a National Hero from Papua who created the name Irian

JAKARTA, iNews.id - Frans Kaisiepo was born on Biak Island on October 10, 1921. He is one of the Papuan figures who was awarded the title of national hero based on Presidential Decree No. 077/TK/1993. Throughout his life, the fourth Governor of Papua Province has struggled to unite West Irian (Papua) with Indonesia.

He is also a Papuan who first raised the Red and White in the Land of Papua. Even during the Dutch occupation, he was aggressively singing the song Indonesia Raya. Frans Kaisiepo has also represented Papua to be involved in the Malino Conference during the discussion on the formation of the United States of Indonesia. At that time he proposed the name Irian for the area in Eastern Indonesia. Irian comes from the Biak language which means a hot place.

Frans Kaisiepo (photo: INews)

On August 31, 1945, when Papua was still occupied by the Dutch, Frans was one of the people who enforced the existence of the Republic of Indonesia. As a result, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison for leading a rebellion against the Dutch in Biak Regency.

To commemorate his service, Frans Kaisiepo was awarded the Second Class Mahaputra Adipradana Star by the Indonesian government. He was posthumously appointed as a National Hero of Indonesia on the 30th anniversary of the handover of Papua to Indonesia in 1993. His name is also immortalized as Frans Kaisiepo International Airport in Biak, West Papua.

Read also in Bahasa Indonesia: Frans Kaisiepo

Kaisiepo is also one of the historical figures chosen to be depicted in the 2016 edition of the Indonesian rupiah banknote for the IDR 10,000 denomination. In addition, his name is also enshrined in one of the KRIs, namely KRI Frans Kaisiepo.

Source: INews