[1] During the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, Koentjaraningrat was working at the National Library of Indonesia.

He later enrolled at Gadjah Mada University, majoring in Indonesian literature, because the political situation did not allow him to return to Jakarta.

[1] After the Japanese withdrawal from Indonesia, Koentjaraningrat joined the 29th Brigade of the Student Forces as an English and history teacher.

[1] Koentjaraningrat moved to Jakarta after graduating from Gadjah Mada and taught at Boedi Oetomo High School.

That same year Koentjaraningrat received a Fulbright Scholarship and studied at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States under George Murdock.

[1] At Yale, Koentjaraningrat worked to add information on Indonesia to the Human Relations Area Files.

His thesis, A Preliminary Description of the Javanese Kinship System, was published the following year as a Cultural Series Report by Yale's Southeast Asia Studies Program.

[1] In 1964, Koentjaraningrat founded the Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (English: Indonesian Centre for Knowledge).

[1] Koentjaraningrat died at age 76 on Tuesday, 23 March 1999 around 16:25 WIB in Kramat 128 Hospital, Central Jakarta as a result of a stroke and complications from diabetes.

In 1990, Sri Paduka Paku Alam VIII conferred upon him the title of Kanjeng Pangeran Haryo.