Biography Joko Widodo – President of the Republic of

Indonesia

Profile and Biodata Joko Widodo started as a furniture entrepreneur, then he plunged
into politics. The “Blusukan” concept or the immediate drop in spaciousness led him to
become Mayor, Governor, and President. At that time Jokowi was appointed as the
Seventh President when he was 53 years old. No one had ever thought that a person as
simple as Joko Widodo could become a president of the Indonesian republic, namely
the highest position in the Indonesian leadership.

Joko Widodo Biography

Joko Widodo was born in Surakarta, Central Java on June 21, 1961, he was the son of
the couple Nato Miharjo and Sujiatmi Natomiharjo. Jokowi is the first child of four
siblings, he was raised by a humble family and even he had experienced several times
to move house because his residence was evicted.

Joko Widodo’s Childhood

Jokowi is a man who comes from a very simple family that makes him feel life is very
difficult and also hard in his childhood. when he sat in the 111th Elementary School in
Tirtoyoso, Surakarta, Jokowi had become a coolie, umbrella motorbike taxi and also a
trader. This he did because it was to finance the needs of his school up to his daily
meals.

When he was 12 years old, Jokowi decided to work in a timber company as a sawman.
he gained this expertise from his father, Noto Miharjo, who also works as a carpenter.

In his childhood, Jokowi also felt the bitterness of the eviction, when his house was
three times evicted. after graduating from elementary school he continued his junior
high school at SMP Negeri 1 Surakarta then continued his school at SMA Negeri 6
Surakarta. During his studies, Jokowi was accepted to the Department of Forestry,
Gajah Mada University, Yogyakarta. He studied very hard about wood, its processing
technology and its use.

Career History of Joko Widodo

Starting a business as a furniture owner

After he successfully completed his studies in 1985 Jokowi finally married his idol
Iriana, on December 24, 1986 in the city of Solo who then gave him three children
namely Gibran Rakabuming, Kaesang Pangarep and Kahiyang Ayu. In the same year,
Jokowi meranatu to Aceh to look for work. In Aceh he worked in a state-owned
company, PT. Aceh Kraft Paper, but due to not feeling at ease then he decided to resign
and try to do wood business in Solo while waiting for the birth of his first child.

Jokowi dared to open his own wood furniture business in 1988 by creating a business
entity called CV. Rababu inspired by the name of his first child, Gibran Rakabuming.
Jokowi’s business is under the auspices of CV. Rakabu experienced ups and downs and
almost went bankrupt, but in 1990 thanks to a loan of 30 million rupiah from his
mother, he tried to get back up. And after his business began to rise, Jokowi began his
journey to tour Europe, America and also the Middle East, since then Jokowi has
successfully become a furniture export businessman.

Plunge Into the World of Politics

When Jokowi traveled around Europe to take a business trip, he was inspired by the
clean and neat city layout. Which finally made Jokowi want to apply in Indonesia.

Mayor of Solo

In 2015 Jokowi ran for Mayor of Solo who was nominated by the National Awakening
Party and PDI Perjuangan. although he did not have sufficient experience in politics,
Jokowi finally succeeded as a winner and became Mayor of Solo.

Jokowi’s victory as Mayor of Solo changed the face of Solo to a comfortable city and the
relocation of traders without causing riots. because his satisfying work made Jokowi
successfully become the Mayor of Solo for the second time, it became Jokowi’s initial
step towards the seat of the President of Indonesia.

Governor of DKI Jakarta

His success as Mayor of Solo then made former Vice President Jusuf Kalla ask Jokowi
to advance to the Governor’s seat.

Although he had refused, Jokowi finally accepted and joined the PDI-P Party led by
Megawati Soekarno Putri along with Gerindra party led by Prabowo Subianto.

Jokowi finally officially ran for DKI Jakarta Governor in pairs with Basuki Tjahaja
Purnamo, also known as Ahok. Finally, the second round pilkada succeeded in making
Jokowi Ahok win the 2012 DKI Jakarta Governor’s seat

President of the Republic of Indonesia

During his reign as Governor of DKI Jakarta, Jokowi dared to go forward as a

Presidential Candidate with Jusuf Kalla as Vice President in 2014. And in June 2014, the
results of the vote count by the Indonesian KPU stated that Jokowi and Jusuf Kalla
were winners of the Presidential Election 2014.

Nominating And Re-elected President 2019

In August 2018, Jokowi again made a declaration to become a candidate for the
President of the Republic of Indonesia for 2019, Jokowi partnered with a cleric, KH
Ma’ruf Amin as Indonesia’s presidential candidate in the 2019 presidential election.
And finally, in the Open Plenary Meeting of the National Calculation Recapitulation
which was officially closed on May 22, 2019, declared Bhok Jokowi-Ma’ruf won as
President and Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia.

he second inauguration ceremony of Joko Widodo ( Jokowi ) as the 7th President of

Indonesia was held at the DPR / MPR Building, Jakarta on Sunday, October 20, 2019

Writing a biography
Read an example biography of Joko Widodo.

Answer the questions below and use your answers to write a short biography of
the person.

Early life

1. Who is the famous person?

2. Where was he born?

3. When was he born?

4. What did his parents do?

5. What else do you know about his parents?

Childhood

1. What kind of childhood did he have?

2. Where did he live as a child?

3. Where did he go to school?

Adulthood

1. Did he have any further education?

2. What was his first job?

3. What other jobs did he do?

4. Did he marry? If so, who did he marry?

5. Did he have any children? How many?

6. Where did he live?

Hometown/Country
1. What was life in his hometown or country like at this time?

2. How did he feel about life in his hometown or country?

Becoming famous

1 What area of life is the person famous for? e.g. politics, music, film etc.

2 How did he first become interested/involved in this area?

3 When did he first become well known?

4 What were the most important events during the time he was famous? 5 What were
the most difficult times?

6 What were the most exciting times?

7 Did he travel to other countries?

8 Did he meet any very interesting people?

9 Did he receive any awards for his work/achievements?

Life at the moment

1 Where is the person living now?

2 How old is he now?

3 What is his life like now?

4 Has he had any important events in his life recently?

5 Has he got any important events coming up in the near future?

Your feelings about the person

What are your feelings about the person? e.g. do you admire them, feel sorry for them,
find them interesting/funny etc.

Why do you feel this way about them?

What do you feel were the most important things they did?