On the plantations: Rie Lips tells about Indonesia
De Waarheid, 12 May 1954, p. 5: Rie Lips's account of her Java trip: plantation workers' wages (about 3 rupiah per day), child labour on tea and rubber estates, and volunteer village schools. Quotes the Gerwani congress appeal that those who can read should teach others; Soviet delegate Alexandra Kolopowa speaks; photo
Gerwani conference in Surabaya: renewing programme and board
De Vrije Pers item (1 Jun 1954) on a Gerwani conference in Surabaya: renewing programme and board, aiming to raise membership two- to fourfold with sub-branches in all wards, endorsing the Jakarta congress decisions (marriage law, democratic rights, H-bomb), demanding dissolution of the city council, backing peasants i
Izvestiia, 20 Jun 1954: 'In Indonesia', travel notes of a Soviet women's delegate
Izvestiia, 20 Jun 1954. Travel notes by a member of the Soviet women's delegation (Anti-Fascist Committee of Soviet Women) touring Indonesia: Jakarta, Boyolali rally where Gerwani representatives and the woman who invited them questioned the guests about the USSR, plantation conditions near Bandung, Round Table agreeme
Gerwani conference in Salatiga on implementing congress decisions
De Locomotief, 29 July 1954: the Salatiga branch of Gerwani, with Central Java provincial delegates and BTI, SOBSI and women's organisation representatives, discusses implementing the latest congress decisions. Sub-branches will be set up in every subdistrict capital. Gerwani fields no candidates in the elections but i
Peace: Soviet women visit Indonesia (account by Soviet delegates)
De Waarheid, 29 Sep 1954, p. 5: Dutch printing of an account from Soviet Woman by Soviet delegates Alexandra Cholopowa and Jekaterina Sjeweljowa on their three-week visit to Indonesia at Gerwani's invitation. They describe the word 'damai' (peace), women workers' and plantation conditions in East Java and Bandung, the
Maisuri, symbol of resistance to forced marriage (Harian Rakjat, 26 January 1955)
Harian Rakjat, 26 Jan 1955, p. 3: women's-page feature 'Maisuri, symbol of resistance to forced marriage', signed Ny. Suwarti (DPP Gerwani). Maisuri refused a marriage imposed by her family to an older man (Kyai Ahmad) who already had wives; the piece uses the case to argue against forced marriage and for a marriage la
Marriage concluded by father valid? (the Maisuri case)
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (11 Feb 1955, p.4): in a customary-court retrial in Tanjungraja, village girl Maisuri, forced by her father to marry a 45-year-old hadji, is defended by lawyer Mr Muwalladi provided by the women's association Gerwani. She had married Kojum, her own choice, and was sentenced with him and her
PKI is 35 years old
Java-Bode, 31 May 1955, p. 2: report on the PKI's 35th anniversary rally on Merdeka Square. D.N. Aidit urged the Dutch to leave and stressed Muslim-Nationalist-Communist unity; Umi Sardjono, Gerwani general chair, spoke sharply against surviving feudalism and large landownership; judge Astrawinata explained his PKI can
The PKI is 35 years old
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 8 Jun 1955, p. 2: report on the PKI's 35th-anniversary rally at Merdeka Square, Jakarta. Umi Sardjono, general chairwoman of Gerwani, attacks feudalism and large landownership; Aidit speaks on Muslim-nationalist-communist unity and Dutch profits, with slogans against Dutch and landlords
1945 - 17 August - 1955: Maisuri sets the example
De Waarheid, 10 Aug 1955, p. 5: illustrated story marking ten years of the Republic about Maisuri, a 17-year-old from Talang-Dukun, South Sumatra, sold by her parents to a landlord as fourth wife, who fled and married her chosen partner, was jailed for 'adultery' and freed after her mother turned to a Gerwani officer a
A village cast its vote
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad reportage (1955-09-30, p. 2) from the village of Tjoblong-Sekeloa, Bandung, on the 29 September 1955 election: 1,147 voters at a bamboo polling place. A child-minding and first-aid post near the booths is run by a committee of eleven women: one from Muslimat, two from Wanita Demokrat and eight
Better roads
Short Algemeen Indisch Dagblad item 'Betere wegen' (1956-01-03, p. 2): at the Wanita Demokrat's instigation, the village of Tjoblong in North Bandung sets up a road-improvement committee led by lurah Ateng Sutisna. Members include PSII, PKI, Wanita Demokrat, Gerwani, Permai, PNI, NU and the local guard; first project i
PKI has one million members: Aidit interview with Ogonyok
De Waarheid, 23 Mar 1956, p. 2: Moscow dispatch that the PKI has one million members, per Aidit in an interview with the Soviet magazine Ogonyok; SOBSI has 2.6 million, the peasant union BTI 2.5 million, Pemuda Rakjat 700,000 and Gerwani about 500,000. Useful as a contemporary membership figure for Gerwani.
Yu Siyem, Gerwani activist, by Sulami (Harian Rakjat, 16 January 1957)
Harian Rakjat, 16 Jan 1957, p. 3: women's page ('Wanita') with a short story by Sulami (Gerwani) about 'Yu Siyem', a village market woman and Gerwani branch activist who recruits neighbours, tours distant villages and wins her husband's support, showing membership expansion and the Anak-Cabang structure. Also Soviet sc
Pewarta Soerabaia, 21 November 1957: Concordia building, Malang
Pewarta Soerabaia, 21 Nov 1957, p. 4: Malang municipality orders six organisations including BTI and Gerwani (Malang regency branch) to vacate the ruins of the former Societeit Concordia within seven days.
Suara Tani, January 1959 (10th anniversary issue): Gerwani greeting and cooperation with BTI
Suara Tani (BTI organ), special 10th-anniversary issue, January 1959, OCR noisy. Contains greetings from ministers, army chief Nasution and Gerwani; BTI New Year message; agrarian seminar results; BTI membership table (3.39 million); exposés of landlord exploitation in Java. On p. 5 Gerwani's national leadership (claim
Suara Tani, June 1960: Biography of Kartinah Kurdi (DPR-GR) and her article on International Children's Day
Suara Tani (BTI organ), June 1960 (vol. XI no. 6), OCR noisy. Issue marks PKI's 40th anniversary, the DPR-GR, the sharecropping law and the 5-Principles rice method. P. 3 (cont. p. 6) gives short biographies of BTI peasant representatives in the DPR-GR, including Ny. Kartinah Kurdi (Taman Siswa teacher, Yogyakarta, act
International briefs: Gerwani national seminar on rural women (Renmin Ribao, 27 January 1961)
Renmin Ribao, 27 Jan 1961, p. 6, international briefs: Gerwani, 'Indonesia's largest women's organisation', held a national seminar on rural women, 17-20 January, with over a hundred delegates. It demanded abolition of colonial laws restricting women, land rights for rural women, a democratic marriage law, relief from
International briefs: Gerwani national seminar on rural women (Renmin Ribao, 27 January 1961)
Renmin Ribao, 27 Jan 1961, p. 6, international briefs: Gerwani, 'Indonesia's largest women's organisation', held a national seminar on rural women, 17-20 January, with over a hundred delegates. It demanded abolition of colonial laws restricting women, land rights for rural women, a democratic marriage law, relief from
Sukarno orders preparation to liberate West Irian; Gerwani congress closes (Renmin Ribao, 20 December 1961)
Renmin Ribao, 20 Dec 1961, p. 3 (Xinhua): leading item on Sukarno's 19 Dec Yogyakarta 'Order to the People' (Trikora). A Jakarta item reports Gerwani's Fourth Congress closing 17 Dec: West Irian resolution, UN telegram for PRC's seat, Aidit's greetings, Guo Jian's speech, a new Central Committee under Umi Sardjono, and
Sukarno orders preparation to liberate West Irian; Gerwani congress closes (Renmin Ribao, 20 December 1961)
Renmin Ribao, 20 Dec 1961, p. 3 (Xinhua): leading item on Sukarno's 19 Dec Yogyakarta 'Order to the People' (Trikora). A Jakarta item reports Gerwani's Fourth Congress closing 17 Dec: West Irian resolution, UN telegram for PRC's seat, Aidit's greetings, Guo Jian's speech, a new Central Committee under Umi Sardjono, and
Communists of Indonesia beloved by the people
Tribune (Sydney), 23 May 1962, p. 9: Laurie Aarons, Communist Party of Australia fraternal delegate, praises the Seventh Congress of the PKI as a mass party (383 delegates, 'two million' members) led by D.N. Aidit, with Sukarno speaking at the closing rally. Lists the mass organisations it leads: BTI, SOBSI and Gerwani
Communists of Indonesia beloved by the people
Tribune (Sydney), 23 May 1962, p. 9: Laurie Aarons, Communist Party of Australia fraternal delegate, praises the Seventh Congress of the PKI as a mass party (383 delegates, 'two million' members) led by D.N. Aidit, with Sukarno speaking at the closing rally. Lists the mass organisations it leads: BTI, SOBSI and Gerwani
Gone to the farmer: communists in the Indonesian countryside
Friese Koerier travel/feature piece (12 Mar 1964, p.11) on how Indonesian communists won rural support via relief after Darul Islam raids, farming advice, theatre, wayang and badminton. It states the communists founded nominally non-communist organisations: BTI, Gerwani ('the Indonesian women's movement') and Pemuda Ra
Soviet Woman, 31 May 1964: 'A New Realm', end of Soviet delegation's Indonesia visit report
Soviet Woman, 31 May 1964, p. (fragment): closing section of a Soviet Women's Committee delegation account of Indonesia (Mother's Day, Dec 1963), followed by an unrelated agricultural chemistry article. Delegates met Hurustiati Subandrio, Madame Supeni and 'Madame Umi Sarjono, Member of Parliament and President of Gerw
Reds, pressing reforms, win wide peasant support in Java (New York Times, 27 March 1965)
New York Times, 27 March 1965, p.55, Neil Sheehan from Klaten, Central Java: on how the PKI and affiliates win peasant support through land-reform agitation and practical projects. Mrs. Sukarni, chair of the Klaten district women's organisation (Gerwani) and district committee member, says Gerwani works to remove restr
PKI 45th anniversary: Aidit reviews Pemuda Rakyat; armed women volunteers march
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao (27 May 1965, p. 3) on events for the PKI's 45th anniversary: Aidit reviews 10,000 Pemuda Rakyat at Lapangan Banteng with a CPC delegation under Peng Zhen present. A fully armed contingent of women volunteers, made up of Gerwani leaders and women independence veterans, performs a military
Reorganisation of the PKI?
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 22 October 1965: correspondent's Jakarta report. A poster targets Mrs Subandrio, head of the women's organisations federation (Kowani), for not yet suspending the communist women's league Gerwani. Also Njoto and Lukman reportedly at Subandrio's house, and Hatta describing communist infiltrat
Heves Megyei Népújság, 7 Dec 1965: Jakarta (arrests, Gerwani)
Heves Megyei Népújság, 7 Dec 1965, brief Jakarta item: 10,500 people, mostly plantation workers, held in North Sumatra (Brig. Gen. Sobiran), and 10,333 arrested around Pati in Central Java, all members of BTI, Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani or other left organisations.
Social system (on the Indonesian women's movement after 1949)
De Waarheid text (7 May 1988, p.6), apparently a speech/interview by an unnamed Indonesian woman, on the Indonesian women's movement. She says Gerwani, with about 1.5 million members after 1949, gave the movement its mass character defending peasant and working women, while Perwari led on polygamy; after 1965 Gerwani w