En: Freemasonry in Indonesia

Freemasonry in Indonesia

Source: Wikipedia

Freemasonry was introduced by the Dutch to what is today Indonesia during the VOC era in the 18th century, and spread throughout the Dutch East Indies during a wave of westernisation in the 19th century. Freemasons originally only included Europeans and Indo-Europeans, but later also indigenous people with a Western education.

Active freemasonry existed throughout the Dutch East Indies (now: Indonesia) from 1762 to 1962. The first lodge in Asia "La Choisie" was founded in Batavia by Jacobus Cornelis Mattheus Radermacher (1741–1783). In 1922 a Dutch Provincial Grand Lodge, under the Grand Orient of the Netherlands, at Weltevreden (Batavia) controlled twenty Lodges in the colony. Fourteen in Java, three in Sumatra and others in places such as Makassar.

The lodges in the colony played a role in the social emancipation of the Indo-Europeans, as well as of the so-called Foreign Orientals, such as the ethnic-Chinese and Arabs. Freemasonry also had a significant impact on the Indonesian National Awakening preluding the national revolution. In 1836 the painter Raden Saleh was the first indigenous person to become a freemason and joined the lodge Eendracht maakt Macht in The Hague. The first indigenous member of a lodge in the Dutch East Indies was Abdul Rachman, a descendant of the sultan of Pontianak, in 1844. A famous freemason and Grand Master (Masonic) was the Indo politician Dick de Hoog, who was the main leader of the Indo emancipation movement and president of the Indo European Alliance. Other prominent Freemasons were the Peranakan tycoon Loa Po Seng and his half-Indo grandson, the politician and parliamentarian Loa Sek Hie.

List of lodges (historical)

Most lodges were closed during the Japanese occupation, unless otherwise indicated.

All lodges in Indonesia were closed when freemasonry was outlawed by Sukarno in 1961.

Specific lodges in the Dutch East Indies included:

• lodge number 31 : La Constante et Fidèle, Semarang (became Indonesian in 1960, closed 1962);
• lodge number 46 : Mata Hari, Padang;
• lodge number 53 : Mataram, Jokjakarta;
• lodge number 55 : l'Union Frédéric Royal, Surakarta;
• lodge number 61 : Prins Frederik, Kota Raja;
• lodge number 64 : Veritas, Probolinggo;
• lodge number 65 : Arbeid Adelt, Makassar;
• lodge number 70 : Deli, Medan;
• lodge number 82 : Tidar, Magelang;
• lodge number 83 : Fraternitas, Salatiga;
• lodge number 84 : Sint Jan, Bandung (closed 1960);
• lodge number 87 : Humanitas, Tegal;
• lodge number 89 : Malang, Malang;
• lodge number 92 : Blitar, Blitar;
• lodge number 110 : Het Zuiderkruis, Meester Cornelis, Batavia (closed 1955);
• lodge number 111 : De Broederketen, Batavia (closed 1948);
• lodge number 129 : De Driehoek, Jember;
• lodge number 142 : Broedertrouw, Bandung;
• lodge number 149 : Palembang, Palembang (closed 1958);
• lodge number 151 : De Hoeksteen, Sukabumi;
• lodge number 153 : Serajoedal, Purwokerto;
• lodge number 165 : De Witte Roos, Batavia (closed 1958)
• lodge number 182 : Purwa Daksina, Batavia (became Indonesian in 1955, closed 1962);
• lodge number 183 : Dharma, Bandung (became Indonesian 1955, closed 1962);
• lodge number 192 : Bhakti, Semarang (became Indonesian in 1955, closed 1962);
• lodge number 193 : Pamitran, Surabaya; (became Indonesian in 1955, closed 1962);
• lodge number 225 : De Ster in het Oosten, Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea (closed in 1963).

Links

• Wikipedia (English) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry_in_Indonesia
• Wikipedia (Nederlandse)

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vrijmetselarij_in_Nederlands-Indi%C3%AB