Mangaradja Soeangkoepon was born on 26 December 1885 into an aristocratic Toba Batak family in Sipirok or possibly in Padangsidempuan; his father was a local district head. His early education is not well documented; likely he studied in a local Dutch-language school. When he was passed over for succession to the family title by his father in 1902, he left for East Sumatra. His younger brother Abdul Rasjid would later become a STOVIA-educated native physician and politician as well.
