''Raden Adjeng'' Kartini (21 April 1879 – 17 September 1904), also known as ''
Raden Ayu'' Kartini, was a prominent
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n activist who advocated for
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
and
female education
Female education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girl ...
.
She was born into an aristocratic
Javanese family in the
Dutch East Indies (present-day
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
). After attending a Dutch-language primary school, she wanted to pursue further education, but Javanese women at the time were barred from higher education. She met various officials and influential people, including J.H. Abendanon, who was in charge of implementing the
Dutch Ethical Policy
The Dutch Ethical Policy ( nl, Ethische Politiek) was the official policy of the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) during the four decades from 1901 until the Japanese occupation of 1942. In 1901, the Dutch Q ...
.
After her death, her sisters continued her advocacy of educating girls and women. Kartini's letters were published in a Dutch magazine and eventually, in 1911, as the works: ''Out of Darkness to Light'', ''Women's Life in the Village'', and ''Letters of a Javanese Princess''. Her birthday is now celebrated in Indonesia as
Kartini Day
The following table indicates declared Indonesian government national holidays. Cultural variants also provide opportunity for holidays tied to local events. Beside official holidays, there are the so-called "''libur bersama''" or "'' cuti bers ...
in her honor, as well as multiple
school
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...
s being named after her and a fund being established in her name to finance the education of girls in Indonesia. She was interested in
mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...
and opposed
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...
.
Biography
Kartini was born into an aristocratic Javanese family when
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
was part of the
Dutch colony of the
Dutch East Indies. Kartini's father, Sosroningrat, became ''Bupati'' (or
Regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
) for the
Regency
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
of
Jepara
Jepara is a town in the province of Central Java, Indonesia.
Jepara is on the north coast of Java, north-east of Semarang, not far from Mount Muria, with a population of 92,967 in mid 2019. It is also the main town of Jepara Regency, which has a ...
after originally being the district chief of Mayong. Her mother, Ngasirah, was the daughter of Madirono and a religious teacher at Telukawur. She was Sosroningrat's first wife but not his most important one. At this time,
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...
was a common practice among the nobility. Colonial regulations required regents to marry a member of the nobility. Since Ngasirah was not of sufficiently high nobility, Sosroningrat married a second time to Woerjan (Moerjam), a direct descendant of the
Raja
''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...
of
Madura
Madura Island is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately (administratively 5,379.33 km2 including various smaller islands to the east, southeast and north that are administrati ...
. After this second marriage, Kartini's father was elevated to '' Bupati'' of Jepara, replacing his second wife's father, Tjitrowikromo.
Kartini was the fifth child and second-eldest daughter in a family of eleven, including half-siblings. She was born into a family with a strong intellectual tradition. Her grandfather, Pangeran Ario Tjondronegoro IV, became a regent at the age of 25, while Kartini's older brother, Sosrokartono, was an accomplished
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
. Kartini's family allowed her to attend school until she was 12 years old. Here, among other subjects, she learned
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
, an unusual accomplishment for Javanese women at the time. After she turned 12 she was secluded (''pingit'') at home, which was a common practice among young female Javanese nobles, to prepare them for wedlock. During seclusion, girls were not allowed to leave their parents' house until they were married, after which the authority over them was transferred to their husbands. Kartini's father was more lenient than some during his daughter's seclusion, giving her such privileges as embroidery lessons and occasional appearances in public for special events.
![Kartini1900s](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Kartini1900s.jpg)
During her seclusion, Kartini continued to self-educate herself. She was fluent in Dutch and acquired several Dutch pen pals. One of which, was a girl named Rosa Abendanon, who later became a close friend. Books, newspapers, and European magazines fed Kartini's interest in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
and
feminist thinking and overall fostered the desire to improve the conditions of indigenous Indonesian women, which at the time had a very low social status.
Kartini's reading included the ''
Semarang'' newspaper, to which she began to send her own contributions that were published. Before she was 20 she had read ''
Max Havelaar
''Max Havelaar; or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company'' ( nl, Max Havelaar; of, De koffi-veilingen der Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappy) is an 1860 novel by Multatuli (the pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker), which played a key rol ...
'' and ''Love Letters'' by
Multatuli
Eduard Douwes Dekker (2 March 182019 February 1887), better known by his pen name Multatuli (from Latin ''multa tulī'', "I have suffered much"), was a Dutch writer best known for his satirical novel '' Max Havelaar'' (1860), which denounced the ...
. She also read ''De Stille Kracht (The Hidden Force)'' by
Louis Couperus
Louis Marie-Anne Couperus (10 June 1863 – 16 July 1923) was a Dutch novelist and poet. His oeuvre contains a wide variety of genres: lyric poetry, psychological and historical novels, novellas, short stories, fairy tales, feuilletons and s ...
, the works of
Frederik van Eeden
Frederik Willem van Eeden (3 April 1860, Haarlem – 16 June 1932, Bussum) was a late 19th-century and early 20th-century Dutch writer and psychiatrist. He was a leading member of the Tachtigers and the Significs Group, and had top billing a ...
, Augusta de Witt, the Romantic-Feminist author
Cécile de Jong van Beek en Donk, and an anti-war novel by
Bertha von Suttner, ''Die Waffen Nieder!'' (''Lay Down Your Arms!''). All were in Dutch.
Kartini was not only concerned with the emancipation of women, but also with other social justice issues within her society. Kartini saw that the struggle for women to obtain their freedom, autonomy, and legal equality was just part of a wider movement.
Marriage, death and legacy
Kartini's parents arranged her marriage to Joyodiningrat, the Regent of
Rembang
Rembang Regency ( id, Kabupaten Rembang) is a regency ( id, kabupaten) on the extreme northeast coast of Central Java Province, on the island of Java (bordering on the Java Sea) in Indonesia. The regency covers an area of 1,035.70 km2 on Java ...
, who had already married three wives. She was wed on 12 November 1903. She detested the marriage proposal at first, but her husband understood Kartini's aspirations and allowed her to establish a women's school on the eastern porch of Rembang's Regency Office complex. Kartini's only child was born on September 13, 1904. A few days later on 17 September 1904, Kartini died at the age of 25. She was buried at Bulu Village, Rembang.
Inspired by R.A. Kartini's example, the Van Deventer family established the R.A. Kartini Foundation which built schools for women, starting in 1912 with 'Kartini's Schools' in
Semarang, and followed by other women's schools in
Surabaya,
Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...
,
Malang,
Madiun,
Cirebon
Cirebon (, formerly rendered Cheribon or Chirebon in English) is a port city on the northern coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is the only coastal city of West Java, located about 40 km west of the provincial border with Central J ...
, and other areas.
![COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Hari Kartini TMnr 60033701](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Hari_Kartini_TMnr_60033701.jpg)
In 1964, President
Sukarno declared R.A. Kartini's birth date, 21 April, as "Kartini Day"—an Indonesian national holiday. This decision has been criticized. It has been proposed that Kartini Day should be celebrated in conjunction with Indonesian Mothers’ Day on 22 December. So R.A. Kartini as a national heroine does not overshadow women who took arms to oppose the Dutch.
In contrast, those who recognize the significance of R.A. Kartini argue that not only was she an intellectual who elevated the status of Indonesian women, she was also a
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
figure with modern ideas, who struggled on behalf of her people and played a role in the
national struggle for independence.
Letters
After Kartini died, J.H. Abendanon, the Minister for Culture, Religion, and Industry in the East Indies, collected and published the letters that she had sent to her friends in Europe. The book was titled ''Door Duisternis tot Licht (Out of Dark Comes Light)'' and published in 1911. It went through five editions, with additional letters included in the final edition, and was translated into
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
by Agnes L. Symmers as ''Letters of a Javanese Princess''. The publication of letters written by a native Javanese woman attracted great interest in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, and Kartini's ideas began to change the way the Dutch viewed native women in Java. Her ideas also provided inspiration for prominent figures in the fight for independence.
This publication was edited to remove references to colonial figures, Islamic beliefs, and Javanese culture, and the English translation made further changes. Kartini's unedited letters were first published in English in 2014.
Ideas
Condition of Indonesian women
In her letters, Raden Adjeng Kartini wrote about her views of the social conditions prevailing at that time, particularly the condition of native Indonesian women. Most of her letters protest the Javanese cultural tendency to impose obstacles in women's development. She wanted women to have the freedom to learn and study. R.A. Kartini wrote of her ideas and ambitions, including ''Zelf-ontwikkeling, Zelf-onderricht, Zelf-vertrouwen, Zelf-werkzaamheid'' and ''Solidariteit''. These ideas were all based on ''Religieusiteit, Wijsheid, en Schoonheid'', that is, belief in God, wisdom, and beauty, along with ''Humanitarianismus'' (
humanitarianism
Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...
) and ''Nationalismus' (nationalism).
Kartini's letters also expressed her hopes for support from overseas. In her correspondence with Estell "Stella" Zeehandelaar, R.A. Kartini expressed her wish to be equal with European women. She depicted the sufferings of Javanese women fettered by tradition, unable to study, secluded, and who must be prepared to participate in polygamous marriages with men they don't know.
Vegetarianism
In letters dated to October 1902, Kartini expresses to Abendanon and her husband her desire to live a
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetariani ...
life, which for her carried religious weight.
Living a life as a vegetarian is a wordless prayer to the Almighty.
Further studies and teaching
Although Kartini's father allowed his daughters' schooling until the age of twelve, he firmly closed the door to further education. As a result, he prevented Kartini from continuing her studies in the Netherlands or enter medical school. Eventually, however, he gave permission for her to study to become a teacher in Batavia (now
Jakarta). In the end, her plans to study in Japan changed into plans to journey to Tokyo, on the advice of Abendanon that this would be best for Kartini and her younger sister, Ayu Rukmini. In 1903, plans to become a teacher in Tokyo were abandoned due to Kartini's upcoming marriage:
'' In short, I no longer desire to take advantage of this opportunity because I am to be married''.
This was despite the Dutch Education Department finally giving permission for Kartini and Rukmini to study in Batavia.
As the wedding approached, R.A. Kartini's attitude towards Javanese traditional customs changed. She became more tolerant and felt her marriage would bring good fortune for her ambition to develop a school for native women. In her letters, she mentioned that her husband supported her desire to develop the Jepara woodcarving industry and a school for native women, but also mentioned that she was going to write a book. This ambition went unrealized due to her premature death in 1904.
Legacy
Kartini Schools
Kartini Schools, named for the Javanese women's rights advocate Raden Ajeng Kartini (Lady Kartini), were opened to educate indigenous girls in the Dutch East Indies in the wake of the Dutch Ethical Policy.
About
The first Kartini School ...
opened in Bogor, Jakarta, and
Malang. A society was also established in her name in the Netherlands.
She appeared twice in the
Indonesian rupiah banknotes, in the 5 rupiah (1952 edition, which issued on 1953) and the 10,000 rupiah (1985 edition).
Kartini Day
Sukarno's Old Order state declared 21 April as Kartini Day to remind women that they should participate in "the hegemonic state discourse of ''pembangunan'' (development)".
[Preview.]
/ref> After 1965, however, Suharto's New Order state reconfigured the image of Kartini from that of radical women's emancipator to one that portrayed her as a dutiful wife and obedient daughter, "as only a woman dressed in a kebaya who can cook." On that occasion, popularly known as Hari Ibu Kartini or Mother Kartini Day, "young girls were to wear tight, fitted jackets, batik shirts, elaborate hairstyles, and ornate jewelry to school, supposedly replicating Kartini's attire but in reality, wearing an invented and more constricting ensemble than she ever did."
The melody of "Ibu Kita Kartini" (Our Mother Kartini) by W. R. Supratman:
X:173
L:1/4
M:4/4
K:C
Q:1/4=120
C3/2D/2EF, G3/2E/2C2, A3/2c/2BA, G3, \
F3/2A/2GF, E2C2, D3/2F/2ED, C3, \
F3/2E/2FA, G/2A/2G/2E/2CE, DEFG, E3, \
F3/2E/2FA, G/2A/2G/2E/2CE, DFB,D, C3,
Tribute
On April 21, 2016, Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
celebrated her 137th birthday with a Google Doodle
A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...
.
See also
* Gerwani
Gerwani ( id, Gerakan Wanita Indonesia, "Indonesian Women's Movement") was a women's organization founded as Gerwis (, "Movement of Conscious Indonesian Women") in Semarang, Central Java, on 4 June 1950.
In 1954, Gerwis as an activist-based mov ...
Notes
References
Primary sources
* Anonymous aden Adjeng Kartini(1898), "The Jepara Manuscript." Presented at Nationale Tentoonstelling van Vrouwenarbeid 1898.
*: Reprinted in Rouffaer and Juynboll (1912), ''De Batik-Kunst in Nederlandsch-Indië en haar Geschiedenis op Grond van Materiaal aanwezig in ’s Rijks Etnographisch Museum en Andere Openbare en Particuliere Verzamelingen in Nederland''.
* Anonymous aden Adjeng Kartini(1899),
Het Huwelijk bij de Kodja's
" ''Bijdragen tot de Taal, Land, en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië'', vol. 6, no.1.
* Tiga Saudara seudonym of Raden Adjeng Kartini(1899), "Een Gouverneur Generaals Dag." ''De Echo: weekblad voor dames in Indië'', September 2–November 18, 1899.
* Tiga Saudara seudonym of Raden Adjeng Kartini(1900), "Een Oorlogsschip op de Ree." ''De Echo: weekblad voor dames in Indië'', April 5–June 10, 1900.
* Kartini (1903), "Van een Vergeten Uithoekje." ''Eigen Haard'' (Amsterdam), no. 1.
Posthumous publications:
* Kartini (1904). "Ontgoocheling." ''Weeklblad voor Indië'' (Surabaya), October 2, 1904.
* Raden Adjeng Kartini (1912), ''Door duisternis tot licht'', with a foreword by J.H. Abendanon, The Hague
*: Partial English translation, 1920: ''Letters of a Javanese princess'', translated by Agnes Louise Symmers with a foreword by Louis Couperus
Louis Marie-Anne Couperus (10 June 1863 – 16 July 1923) was a Dutch novelist and poet. His oeuvre contains a wide variety of genres: lyric poetry, psychological and historical novels, novellas, short stories, fairy tales, feuilletons and s ...
, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, (1986 edition), (2005 edition)
*: Partial Indonesian translation, 1938: ''Habis gelap tributlah terang'', Balai Pustaka
* Raden Adjeng Kartini (1987), ''Brieven aan mevrouw R.M. Abendanon-Mandri en haar echtgenoot : met andere documenten''. Dordrecht: Foris.
*: Indonesian translation, 1989: ''Kartini surat-surat kepada Ny. R.M. Abendanon-Mandri dan suaminya''. Jakarta: Djambatan.
*: English translation, 1992: ''Letters from Kartini : an Indonesian feminist, 1900–1904''. Clayton, Vict.: Monash Asia Institute.
* Raden Adjeng Kartini (1995), ''On Feminism and Nationalism: Kartini's Letters to Stella Zeehandelaar 1899–1903''. Clayton, Vict.: Monash University.
*: Indonesian translation, 2004: "Aku Mau ... Feminisme dan Nasionalisme. Surat-surat Kartini kepada Stella Zeehandelaar 1899–1903" (Jakarta : IRB Press)
* Raden Adjeng Kartini (2014), ''Kartini : the complete writings 1898–1904''. Clayton, Victoria: Monash University.
Secondary sources
* M.C. Van Zeggelen (1945), "Kartini", J.M. Meulenhoff, Amsterdam (in Dutch)
* M.Vierhout (1942), "Raden Adjeng Kartini", Oceanus, Den Haag (in Dutch)
* Elisabeth Keesing (1999), ''Betapa besar pun sebuah sangkar; Hidup, suratan dan karya Kartini.'' Jakarta: Djambatan, v + 241 pp.
* J. Anten (2004), ''Honderd(vijfentwintig) jaar Raden Adjeng Kartini; Een Indonesische nationale heldin in beeld'', Nieuwsbrief Nederlands Fotogenootschap 43: 6–9.
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kartini, Raden Ayu
1879 births
1904 deaths
Deaths in childbirth
Indonesian feminists
Indonesian women's rights activists
National Heroes of Indonesia
Priyayi
Women's rights in Indonesia