Composer of Warriors, Cornel Simanjuntak, Artist and Soldier of The Homeland

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Photo Source: Tirto.id

FEMUSINDO.com - Cornel Simanjuntak, or known as C. Simanjuntak, was a composer of heroic and patriotic songs of Bataknese Indonesian blood.

Cornel Simanjuntak was born in Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra, 1921 and died in Yogyakarta, September 15, 1946 at the age of 25.

He is considered a figure who brought superior seeds for the development of Indonesian music. During the struggle, Cornel Simanjuntak also took up arms against the colonialists.

In 1945-1946, he pointed his gun at Gurkha/British soldiers. In a battle in the Senen-Tangsi Penggorengan area, Jakarta, his thigh was shot.

Then, Cornel Simanjuntak was treated at the RSUP. Not fully recovered, he was smuggled to Karawang because the Gurkhas were conducting a cleanup.

From Karawang he was sent to Yogyakarta. It was in this city that the heroic and patriotic songs he created were born.

The songs he composed include Tanah Tumpah Darah (Blood Land), Maju Tak Gentar (Forward, Forward, For Heroes), Teguh Kukuh Berlapis Baja (Strong, Steel-Covered), and Indonesia Tetap Merdeka (Indonesia Remains Independent).

He died on September 15, 1946 at the Pakem Sanatorium, Yogyakarta, as a bachelor and was buried at the Kerkop Cemetery in Yogyakarta.

In 1961 the Indonesian Government awarded the honorary Charter of Satyalancana Kebudayaan (Cultural Satyalancana Charter) to Cornel Simanjuntak.

On November 10, 1978, Cornel Simanjuntak's grave was moved from the Kerkop Cemetery to the Semaki Heroes' Cemetery in Yogyakarta.

On the tombstone of Cornel Simanjuntak, this warrior composer, is written a line of the sentence: "Fallen as an Artist and Soldier of the Homeland". (*)