Raden Ayu Kartini was born into an
aristocratic Javanese family in a time when
Java was still part of the
Dutch colony, the
Dutch East Indies. R.A. Kartini's father, Raden Mas Sosroningrat, became
Regency Chief of
Jepara, and her mother was Raden Mas' 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.
R.A. Kartini's father, R.M. A.A. Sosroningrat, was originally the
district chief of Mayong. Her mother was M.A. Ngasirah, the daughter of
Kyai Haji Madirono, a teacher of religion in Teluwakur, Jepara, and Nyai
Haji Siti Aminah. At that time, colonial regulations specified that a
Regency Chief must marry a member of the nobility and because M.A.
Ngasirah was not of sufficiently high nobility
[2], her father married a second time to Raden Ajeng Woerjan (Moerjam), a direct descendant of the
Raja of
Madura.
After this second marriage, R.A. Kartini's father was elevated to
Regency Chief of Jepara, replacing his second wife's own father, R. A.A.
Tjitrowikromo.
R.A. 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 R.A.
Kartini's older brother R.M. Sosrokartono was an accomplished
linguist.
R.A. Kartini's family allowed her to attend school until she was 12
years old. Here, among other subjects, she learnt to speak fluent
Dutch, an unusual accomplishment for Javanese women at the time
[3].
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. R.A. 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 R.A. Kartini could speak Dutch, she acquired several Dutch
pen friends. One of them, a girl by the name of
Rosa Abendanon, became her very close friend. Books, newspapers and European magazines fed R.A. Kartini's interest in
European feminist thinking, and fostered the desire to improve the conditions of indigenous women, who at that time had a very low social status.
Raden Adjeng Kartini's omnivorous reading included the
Semarang newspaper
De Locomotief, edited by Pieter Brooshooft, as well as
leestrommel,
a set of magazines circulated by bookshops to subscribers. She also
read cultural and scientific magazines as well as the Dutch women's
magazine
De Hollandsche Lelie, to which she began to send
contributions which were published. From her letters, it was clear that
R.A. Kartini read everything with a great deal of attention and
thoughtfulness. The books she had read before she was 20 included
Max Havelaar and
Love Letters by
Multatuli. She also read
De Stille Kracht (The Hidden Force) by
Louis Couperus, the works of
Frederik van Eeden,
Augusta de Witt, the Romantic-Feminist author Mrs.
Goekoop de-Jong Van Beek and an anti-war novel by
Berta von Suttner,
Die Waffen Nieder! (Lay Down Your Arms!). All were in Dutch.
R.A. Kartini's concerns were not only in the area of the emancipation
of women, but also other problems of her society. R.A. 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 Raden Adipati Joyodiningrat, the Regency Chief of
Rembang,
who already had three wives. She was married on the 12 November 1903.
This was against R.A. Kartini's wishes, but she acquiesced to appease
her ailing father. Her husband understood R.A. Kartini's aims and
allowed her to establish a school for women in the east porch of the
Rembang Regency Office complex. R.A. Kartini's only son was born on
September 13, 1904. A few days later on September 17, 1904, R.A. 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 nasionalist figure, with new ideas who struggled on behalf of her people, including her in the national strunggle for inependence.
After Raden Adjeng Kartini died, Mr J. H. Abendanon, the Minister for
Culture, Religion and Industry in the East Indies, collected and
published the letters that Kartini had sent to her friends in Europe.
The book was titled
Door Duisternis tot Licht (Out of Dark Comes Light)
and was published in 1911. It went through five editions, with some
additional letters included in the final edition, and was translated
into En by English agnes L. Symmers and published under the title
Letters of a Javanese Princess.
The publication of R.A. Kartini's letters, written by a native Javanese woman, attracted great interest in the Netherlands
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.
There are some grounds for doubting the veracity of R.A. Kartini's
letters. There are allegations that Abendanon made up R.A. Kartini's
letters. These suspicions arose because R.A. Kartini's book was
published at a time when the Dutch Colonial Government were implementing
'Ethical Policies' in the Dutch East Indies, and Abendanon was one of
the most prominent supporters of this policy. The current whereabouts of
the vast majority of R.A. Kartini's letters is unknown. According to
the late Sulastin Sutrisno, the Dutch Government has been unable to
track down J. H. Abendanon's descendants.
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. The majority of her letters protest the
tendency of Javanese Culture to impose obstacles for the development of
women. 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 Humanitarianisme and Nationalisme (nationalism).
Kartini's letters also expressed her hopes for support from overseas.
In her correspondence with Estell "Stella" Zeehandelaar, R.A. Kartini
expressed her desire to be like a European youth. 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.
Religion
Raden Adjeng Kartini also expressed criticisms about religion
. She questioned why the quran must be memorised and recited without an obligation to actually understand it
[citation needed].
She also expressed the view that the world would be more peaceful if
there was no religion to provide reasons for disagreements, discord and
offence
. She wrote "Religion must guard us against committing sins, but more often, sins are committed in the name of religion"
[citation needed]
Kartini also raised questions with the way in which religion provided a justification for men to pursue
polygamy[citation needed].
For Kartini, the suffering of Javanese women reached a pinnacle when
the world was reduced to the walls of their houses and they were
prepared for a polygamous marriage.
[citation needed]
Vegetarian Lifestyle
It is known from her letters dated October 1902 to
Abendanon
and her husband that at the age of 23, Raden Adjeng Kartini had a mind
to live a vegetarian life. "It has been for sometime that we are
thinking to do it (to be a vegetarian), I have even eaten only
vegetables for years now, but I still don't have enough moral courage to
carry on. I am still too young." R.A. Kartini once wrote.
She also emphasized the relationship between this kind of lifestyle
with religious thoughts. She also quoted, "Living a life as vegetarian
is a wordless prayer to the Almighty."
[4]
[edit] Further studies and teaching
Raden Adjeng Kartini loved her father deeply although it is clear
that her deep affection for him became yet another obstacle to the
realisation of her ambitions. He was sufficiently progressive to allow
his daughters schooling until the age of 12 but at that point the door
to further schooling was firmly closed. In his letters, her father also
expressed his affection for R.A. Kartini. Eventually, he gave permission
for R.A. Kartini to study to become a teacher in Batavia (now
Jakarta),
although previously he had prevented her from continuing her studies in
the Netherlands or entering medical school in Batavia.
R.A. Kartini's desire to continue her studies in Europe was also
expressed in her letters. Several of her pen friends worked on her
behalf to support Kartini in this endeavour. And when finally Kartini's
ambition was thwarted, many of her friends expressed their
disappointment. In the end her plans to study in the Netherlands were
transmuted into plans to journey to Batavia on the advice of Mrs.
Abendanon that this would be best for R.A. Kartini and her younger
sister, R.Ayu Rukmini.
Nevertheless, in 1903 at the age of 24, her plans to study to become a
teacher in Batavia came to nothing. In a letter to Mrs. Abendanon, R.A.
Kartini wrote that the plan had been abandoned because she was going to
be married...
"In short, I no longer desire to take advantage of this opportunity, because I am to be married..".
This was despite the fact that for its part, the Dutch Education
Department had finally given permission for R.A. Kartini and R.Ay.
Rukmini to study in Batavia.
As the wedding approached, R.A. Kartini's attitude towards Javanese
traditional customs began to change. She became more tolerant. She began
to feel that her marriage would bring good fortune for her ambition to
develop a school for native women. In her letters, R.A. Kartini
mentioned that not only did her esteemed husband support her desire to
develop the woodcarving industry in Jepara and the school for native
women, but she also mentioned that she was going to write a book. Sadly,
this ambition was unrealised as a result of her premature death in 1904
at the age of 25.
