Overview
Tan Goan-Po (4 August 1913 - 14 February 1978), also known as Paul Mawira, was a prominent Indonesian economist in the 1950s. He was one of the founders of the Economics Department of Universitas Indonesia, whose students continue to hold numerous influential government positions to this day. During Indonesia's struggle for nationhood, Tan Goan-Po wrote economics articles in the newspaper, Semangat Baroe, of which he was an editor while studying in the Netherlands. As general manager of Banking and Trading Corporation in the late 1940s, Tan Goan-Po generated funds to finance the Indonesian delegates led by Sutan Sjahrir, in the fight for independence and international recognition at the United Nations Security Council in Lake Success, New York. Tan founded and ran several business and financial institutions, and backed programs to promote pribumi (indigenous) Indonesian business involvement. He assisted in the founding of the Parahyangan School of Commerce (Akademi Perniagaan) in 1955. In 1957-1961 Tan joined the PRRI/Permesta regional rebellion demanding economic decentralization, and was quarantined in a political detention center after the rebellion failed. He headed the economics department of Universitas Krisnadwipayana in 1971 -1978.