Sartono was born in Wonogiri Regency, in the southeastern part of Central Java Province, on 15 February 1921.

[1] Sartono had developed an interest in history during his teenage years, having stayed in the vicinity of Borobudur Temple for a month.

[1][3] During his time in the Netherlands, Sartono found archival records of the 1888 Banten peasants' revolt, which led to his dissertation and later publication.

[3] Sartono pioneered the postcolonial historiography now widespread among Indonesian historians, using social and cultural analysis at a grassroots level not unlike India's Subaltern Studies.

After a funeral ceremony at Gadjah Mada University, he was buried at his family grave in Ungaran, Central Java.