Early and military career

He began working as a clerk at Bandung's municipal government in 1935 until the Japanese takeover in 1942, during which he was promoted to financial inspector for the city.^[2] After the Japanese surrender, he joined the newly formed People's Security Agency (BKR) as part of its local leadership in Bandung. During the Indonesian National Revolution, he was part of the Siliwangi Division which largely operated in Western Java, where he held various positions including chief of logistics and special chief of staff. After the war ended, he served in several other positions in the army, until he was the army's quartermaster general by 1955.^[3][4]

As a lieutenant colonel, he was appointed as Siliwangi Division's commander-in-chief in August 1956, replacing Alexander Evert Kawilarang.^[4] Many officers of the Siliwangi Division at the time were considering launching a coup against the government in order to "improve the affairs of state", and one of Suprayogi's first actions was to gather regimental and battalion officers to convince them against backing such coups in late September 1955.^[5] A number of Siliwangi officers, namely Kemal Idris, were later removed by Suprayogi as they made a continued futile attempt to gather support for a coup, including leading a regiment to head towards Jakarta before they were intercepted by other Siliwangi units and was forced to turn back without a fight.^[6]

Government minister

His first ministerial appointment was in 25 June 1958 while he held the rank of colonel, as State Minister for Economic Stabilization in the Djuanda Cabinet.^[2][7][8] In the succeeding First Working Cabinet, he was appointed a full Minister of Production,^[9] and in the Second Working Cabinet he had been promoted to brigadier general while maintaining his ministerial post.^[10] The Third Working Cabinet saw Suprayogi's office being elevated to Coordinating Minister, at a time when he had been promoted to major general. He also held a secondary office as Minister of Public Works and Power in the Third Working Cabinet.^[11]

During Suprayogi's tenure as public works minister, he oversaw several large-scale projects such as the construction of the Jatiluhur Dam, the Ngurah Rai Airport, the Ampera Bridge, and construction in Jakarta related to the 1962 Asian Games (such as the Semanggi Interchange and the Senayan Sports Complex).^[2] In the Fourth Working Cabinet, Suprayogi would no longer serve as coordinating minister, though Suprayogi remained public works minister.^[12] He maintained his office in the Dwikora Cabinet,^[13] but was replaced by Sutami [id] in the Revised Dwikora Cabinet.^[14]

Suprayogi was appointed chairman of the Audit Board of Indonesia (BPK) in 1966. The Audit Board had previously been largely ineffective under Sukarno's presidency due to presidential control, and it did not begin investigating smaller cases of corruption until 1967.^[15] He remained chairman until his replacement by Umar Wirahadikusumah in 1973.^[16]

Sports organizations

During his tenure as minister of production, he was also chairman of the Swimming Association of Indonesia (PRSI) and within this capacity Suprayogi in 1960 proposed a national centralized training system (Indonesian: Pemusatan Latihan Nasional, abbreviated as Pelatnas), which was implemented in the leadup to the 1962 Asian Games. This system later became the core of the Indonesian sports teams in international competitions.^[17] He would serve as PRSI's chairman between 1953 and 1983, and he was awarded the title "Father of Indonesian Swimming" during PRSI's 1983 congress.^[18] He had stated his intentions to not continue his tenure prior to the congress, as he thought he had held the position for too long.^[19]

After concluding his ministerial career in the 1970s, Suprayogi became active in sports, and became daily chairman of the National Sports Committee of Indonesia (KONI),^[3] starting from an acting position in May 1973 to replace Hamengkubuwono IX who was appointed as vice president.^[20] He would serve in this position until 1986.^[21] He was also appointed to replace Hamengkubuwono as Indonesia's representative to the International Olympic Committee in 1973, and remained at the IOC until his retirement in 1989.^[21]