Roman Catholic Archbishop. Born to a Muslim family in the then Dutch East Indies, Soegija was introduced to Catholicism upon entering a school run by the Jesuits in Muntilan following the invitation of one of the missionaries, who noticed his brightness. Baptized in 1910, he joined the Society of Jesus shortly after graduating as a teacher and following his studies at the Netherlands, was ordained priest there in Roermond in August 1931. After taking care of two parishes in his native country, he was appointed apostolic vicar of the newly established vicariate of Semerang in 1940, becoming thus the first Indonesian native to be named bishop. This was not the only fact that marked his name in history: along his episcopate, Soegija would rise to a national hero among his fellow Indonesians. When Japan invaded his country in 1942, he faced the Japanese who entered several churches and converted them for their own use, killing in the meantime several priests. In 1945, through his efforts, a truce was agreed between Indonesian and Japanese troops, while taking care of the humanitarian needs of the locals, who were facing several difficulties including food shortage. Moving his see to Yogyakarta, following the Second World War, Soegija worked hard to obtain independence for Indonesia from the Dutch which ultimately arrived in 1954. Moving his office back to Semarang, he fought Communism and saw Catholicism expanding, such that his vaciarite was raised to an archdiocese, with himself becoming thus its first metropolitan archbishop. Apostolic vicar of the Military Ordinariate of Indonesia, the Archbishop passed away in the Netherlands while undergoing treatment at a nunnery in Steyl, shortly after suffering a heart attack. His body was flown to his native country where he was immediately named National Hero of Indonesia and was interred with full military honors following several rites and masses in the heroes' cemetery of Semerang. Hailed to this day with pride by the Indonesians, his grave remains a site of continuous pilgrimages and devotion. In 2012, a movie bearing his birth name, "Soegija" was relased. Semerang's Catholic university is named after him.