BIOGRAPHY R. A.

KARTINI

Kartini was born into an aristocratic Javanese family when Java was part of the Dutch
colony of th e Dutch East Indies. Kartini's father, Sosroningrat, became Regency Chief of Jepara .
Kartini's father was originally the district chiefof Mayong. Her mother, Ngasirah was the
daughter of Madirono and a teacher of religion in Teluwakur. She was his first wife but not the
most important one. At this time, polygamy was a common practice among the nobility. She
also wrote the Letters of a Javanese Princess.
Colonial regulations required a Regency Chief to marry a member of the nobility. Since
Ngasirah was not of sufficiently high nobility, her father married a second time to Woerjan
(Moerjam), a direct descendant of the Raja of Madura. After this second marriage, Kartini's
father was elevated to Regency Chief of Jepara, replacing his second wife's own 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 Regency Chief at the age of 25 while Kartini's older
brother Sosrokartono was an accomplished linguist . Kartini's family allowed her to attend
school until she was 12 years old. Here, among other subjects, she learnt to speak Dutch, an
unusual accomplishment for Javanese women at the time.
After she turned 12 she was 'secluded' at home, a common practice among Javanese
nobility, to prepare young girls for their marriage. During seclusion girls were not allowed to
leave their parents' house until they were married, at which point 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. During
her seclusion, Kartini continued to educate herself on her own. Because she could speak Dutch,
she acquired several Dutch pen friends. One of them, a girl by the name of Rosa Abendanon,
became a close friend. Books, newspapers and European magazines fed
Kartini's interest in European feminist thinking, and fostered the desire to improve the
conditions of indigenous Indonesian women, who at that time had a very low social status.
Kartini's concerns were not only in the area of the emancipation of women, but also other
problems of her society. Kartini saw that the struggle for women to obtain their freedom,
autonomy and legal equality was just part of a wider movement.
Kartini with Joyodiningrat Kartini's parents arranged her marriage to Joyodiningrat, the
Regency Chief of Rembang, who already had three wives. She was married on the 12 November
1903. This was against Kartini's wishes, but she acquiesced to appease her ailing father. Her
husband understood Kartini's aims and allowed her to establish a school for women in the east
porch of the Rembang Regency Office complex. Kartini's only son was born on 13 September
1904. A few days later on 17 September 1904, Kartini died at the age of 25. She was buried in
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, 'Kartini's Schools' in Semarang in 1912, followed by
other women's schools in Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Malang , Madiun , Cirebon and other areas.
Commemoration of Kartini Day in 1953 In 1964, President Sukarno declared R.A. Kartini's birth
date, 21 April, as 'Kartini Day' - an Indonesian national holiday. This decision has been criticised.
It has been proposed that Kartini's Day should be celebrated in conjunction with
Indonesian Mothers Day, on 22 December so that the choice of R.A. Kartini as a national
heroine would not overshadow other women who, unlike R.A. Kartini, took up arms to oppose
the colonisers. In contrast, those who recognise the significance of R.A. Kartini argue that not
only was she a feminist who elevated the status of women in Indonesia, she was also a
nationalist figure, with new ideas, who struggled on behalf of her people and played a role in
the national struggle for independence .