Sutan Sjahrir was an Indonesian politician, and revolutionary independence leader, who served as the first Prime Minister of Indonesia, from 1945 until 1947. Previously, he was a key Indonesian nationalist organizer in the 1930s and 1940s. Unlike some of his colleagues, he did not support the Japanese during the Japanese occupation and fought in the resistance against them. He was considered to be an idealist and an intellectual.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Indonesia was a political office in Indonesia which existed from 1945 until 1966. During this period, the prime minister was in charge of the cabinet of Indonesia, one of the three branches of government along with the People's Representative Council and the president. Following his 1959 decree, President Sukarno assumed the role and powers of prime minister until his resignation in 1966.