When we speak about education of girls in Indonesia, Raden Ajeng Kartini almost at all times involves my mind. Through letters, mainly letters to her Dutch buddy, Stella Zeehandelaar – later recorded within the book The sun is coming after the rain – We know that Kartini fought so that girls might be equal with men by way of social position.
However, there are such a lot of other women from Indonesia who also participated within the fight for ladies’s education. In this text, the life and contribution of 6 less known heroes were examined, which helped to shine with light, provided women were educated in Indonesia.
1. Dewi Sartika
As the daughter of the nobility of Sundan, Sartika’s Dewi experienced an outbreak of inspiration when her family fell apart, since the Dutch colonists had her father, Rangga Somanagara, to attack him after accusing him of sabotage. A biographical article written by Fadrik Aziz Firdausi notes that Little Dewi was sent to her uncle on the a part of her mother, the home of Suria Karahadiningrat, where harsh sexual roles hindered her to proceed formal education.
She was saddened after the Feudalistic Sunday society thought that only the boys were worthy of going to high school, while the women could accept lessons about creating houses. This disappointment led to the establishment of a faculty for women named Sakola Istri in 1904. This school taught lessons about Dutch, religion and much more complicated skills, equivalent to nursing.
Long before Kartini founded her school in 1912, Sakola Istri Dewi was the primary school of indigenous girls in Eastern India. With the support of her husband and peers, Sakola Istri opened troops in Priangan.
Dewi also actively wrote about such topics as marriage of kids and a difference in gender salaries. Due to the large contribution to the education of girls, Dewi was recognized as a national hero by the Indonesian government in 1966, 19 years after her death.
2. Ra lasmintang
Like Dewi Sartika, Ra Lasminings can also be a girl from Western Javanese from Garut. Mikihiro Moriyama, a researcher of Sundan’s literature and culture at Nanzan University, notes that she was the primary Sundan woman who was in a position to speak easily in Dutch with the Dutch living in Garut at the moment.
Lasminings passion for education led her to the assistance of Dewi Sartice in constructing Sakola Istri. Then in 1907 she began to establish her own school, Sekolah Cautamaan Istri.
The school was official as a corporation called Vereeneging Cautamaan Istri Schoalen six years later. There, she taught girls read, write and create handicrafts.
In addition to teaching, Lasminings was often known as an efficient writer and translator. She wrote countless work, from school textbooks for youngsters to articles about her feminist thoughts. She also often explained books from Dutch to Sundanes to encourage children to read.
3. Maria Walanda Maramis
Born in Kema, a small port town in North Sulawesi, Maria Walanda Maramis was a passionate for ladies’s education from her teenage years. Her opportunity to make a change occurred when she married Yoseph Frederik Calusung Walanda, a primary school teacher who shared the identical enthusiasm in the event of education for ladies and kids.
Maria founded Sekolah Rumah Tangga (Huishoud School), by which girls learn to stitch, cook and make handicrafts, in 1917. In the identical 12 months she also established a corporation called Pikat, abbreviation of Percinaan IBU Kepada Anak Tyburunnya (mother’s love for her children) to support the education school.
Pikat soon became a nationwide organization. In addition, Maria actively saved her opinions about feminism in local newspapers, while in favor of girls’s participation in parliament.
4. Siti Walidah
Although mainly often known as the wife of Ahmad Dahlan – a Muslim priest known mainly for its assumption Muhammadiyah In 1912 – Siti Walidah was also a supporter of girls’s education. To obtain information, Muhammadiyah is the major Islamic organization in Indonesia, which focused on reforming religious science and establishing schools.
Siti actively supported her husband’s activity in Mahommadiyah, while inviting women and girls to take part in mental discussions in Sopo Tresno, a forum that she initiated. The huge development of Sopo Tresno led Siti to the establishment of a proper organization often known as “Aisyiyah in 1917.
Her huge contribution to the event of education for Muslim women is the rationale why members of Muhammadiyah consider her a “mother” and a pioneer of social reform.
5. Rohan’s holidays
Rohan Kudus, who was recognized as a national hero in 2019, is the primary journalist of Indonesia. Coming from the western Sumatra, Rohan developed a passion for writing from her father, a judge who was an avid reader.
To proceed to advertise the education of young women, Rohana founded a faculty called School of Amai Setia Crafts. Then, along along with his peer, Ratna Juwita Zubidah, Rohana took off Soenting melajoeFirst newspaper for ladies. The article was popular not just for West Sumatra, but additionally in Malaccania and Singapore.
In addition to the idea Soenting melajoeRohana also became the editor -in -chief A girl moving. Thanks to the large contribution within the press, Rohan pressed the talents of reading and writing women and significant considering.
6. Tengku Syarifah Latifah
Tengku Syarifah Latifah, the queen of the sultanate of Siri Sri Inderapu, is typically called “Kartini Riau”. This is attributable to the undeniable fact that two women share similarities in various features: they’re each members of the nobility, using their privileges to construct schools for young women.
Together along with her husband, Sultan Syarif Kasim II, Latifah founded Sultanah Latifah School in 1927 as an try and teach young women and the resistance of Dutch colonialism through education. Adilah Suwarno within the book Siak Sri Inderapura He also notes that Latifah also founded a non secular school for ladies named Madrasah An-Nis.
After the death of Latifah in 1929, her sister Syarifah Fadlun, continued her heritage, managing two schools.
Reference
- Chaerunnis, Luqyana. “Tengku Agung Syarifah Latifah, pioneer of the primary school of girls in Riau.” Mubadala. Published on May 13, 2023. Access on July 9, 2025 https://mubadalah.id/tengku-agung-agung-syarifah-laifah-pelopor-skolah -Preempanuan-ertama-d-riau/.
- Firdausi, Fadrik Aziz. “Dewi Sartika: Teachers from Priangan, against the traditions of colot and polygamy.” Tirto. Posted on September 10, 2019. Access on July 9, 2025 https://tirto.id/dewi-sartika–dari-dari-priangan-lawan-adat-kolot-poligami-ch1v.
- Janti, Nur. “Knowing Saint Rohana, the primary journalist who’s a national hero.” History. Posted on November 8, 2019. Access on July 9, 2025. https://www.historia.id/article/mengenal-rohana-kudus-wartawan-pherpuan-ertama-yang-jadi-pahlawan-nasional-db2lq.
- Mileneo, Muhammad Fazer. “Biography of Lasminings, a female fighter emancipation from Garut.” Good news from Indonesia. Posted on March 29, 2023. Access on July 9, 2025. https://www.goodnewsfromindonesia.id/2023/03/29/raden-ayu-lasmininggrarat-piejuang-emansipas-Perempuan-dari-Garut.
- “Nyai Ahmad Dahlan, founding father of” Aisyiyah “. Republic. Posted on April 3, 2023. Access on July 9, 2025. https://www.republiki.id/posts/39212/nyai-ahmad-dahlan-pondiri-aisyyah.
- Rachmadita, Amanda. “The role of Lasminings in education and translation.” History. Posted on March 29, 2023. Access on July 9, 2025. https://www.historia.id/article/peran-lasmininggrarat-dalam-przkan-pnerjemahan-pdbzg.
- -. “Maria Walanda Maramis, a national hero with North Sulawesi.” History. Posted on November 11, 2022. Access on July 9, 2025. https://www.historia.id/article/maria-walanda-maramis-pahlawan-nasmental-dari-sulawesi-utara-v5wx8.
- Raditya, Iswary N. “Syarifah Latifah: Pioneer of Women’s Education within the Sultanate of Siak.” Tirto. Posted on April 19, 2018. Access on July 9, 2025 https://tirto.id/syarifah-lifah-pelopor-mandidikan-priempuan-di-kesultan-siak-ch1j.
