Early life

He was born in Klakah, East Java on April 30, 1913. He was the son of Paulus Johanes Galstaun, an Armenian, and Djainah Mariam Rahardjo, a Javanese. His Armenian father migrated from Isfahan, Persia (now Iran).

Education

Benjamin Galstaun was born in Klakah, Surabaya. He attended primary school in Klakah and received his General Certificate of Education in 1930. After his primary schooling, he was sent to the Dutch high school in Surabaya where he received his General Certificate of Education. On visits to Surabaya, his training in zoology and veterinary science was furthered by friends at the university, including three professors who allowed him to participate in autopsies. During his post-high school years, he lived and worked on the family plantation.

In late 1939, he decided to set out on his own, setting out in the private German trading firm of N.V. Carl Schlieper Handelsgesellschaft, where he first apprenticed in the sales department. The firm handled equipment for sugarcane factories and plantations growing coffee, cacao, tobacco, tapioca and other crops, and maintained good relations with customers by giving instruction on the use and care of machinery sold to them. Galstaun became one of those in the information department assigned to train both factory staff and laborers in classes and in the field. ^[2]