Semaun

Semaun (1899–1971), also spelled Semaoen, was the first chairman of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) and was a leader of the Semarang branch of the Sarekat Islam.

==Early life== Semaun was born in 1899 in Curahmalang, Jombang, East Java. Semaoen was the son of Prawiroatmodjo, a bricklayer in the railway ministry. Although not the son of a rich man, Semaoen managed to get into the Tweede Klas school (a second-class native school) and obtained additional education in Dutch by attending a kind of afternoon course. After completing primary school, he was unable to continue to higher education. Therefore, he worked at the Staatsspoor (SS) Surabaya as a small clerk.