Gerwani and Mrs Fatmawati: statement on a private divorce matter
De Nieuwsgier item (5 Jan 1956) on a Gerwani statement about Fatmawati Sukarno's divorce request: Gerwani calls it a private matter, defends free democratic marriage, regrets that certain parties exploited it to undermine national unity and the president's name, and uses it to demand a democratic marriage law.
Gerwani chair: a political background to Fatmawati's divorce request?
Java-Bode, 5 January 1956, p. 2: Gerwani general chair Umi Sardjono tells the press Gerwani regrets that certain groups have systematically pressed Fatmawati Sukarno to seek divorce, serving colonial aims of splitting national unity and besmirching the president. She calls the divorce a private matter and says Gerwani
Java-Bode 5 Jan 1956, page: Gerwani chair on Fatmawati's divorce request (whole page)
Whole-page OCR of Java-Bode, 5 January 1956, p. 2. Gerwani-relevant is Umi Sardjono's statement on Fatmawati's divorce request, urging a democratic marriage law, plus press reports on Fatmawati, Hartini and women leaders' reactions to a president with two wives. Other articles (Colonel Lubis on security, Ceramese ex-KN
A political background to Fatmawati's divorce request?
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 14 Jan 1956, p. 1: Gerwani chair Umi Sardjono tells the press that groups are pressing Fatmawati Sukarno to seek divorce for political ends, calls it a private matter, upholds marriage without compulsion and demands a democratic marriage law. Also repeats press reports on Fatmawati, Har
Gerwani and painless childbirth
Java-Bode, 23 January 1956, p. 2: the Gerwani central board wrote to the government welcoming Pope Pius XII's endorsement of painless childbirth, credited the theory's discoverer, Soviet professor Pavlov, and urged the government to let Indonesian scholars learn it for mass application. Other snippets (Kalimantan impor
Gerwani and painless childbirth
Short item, Indische Courant voor Nederland, 4 Feb 1956, p. 3: the Gerwani central board writes to the government welcoming Pope Pius XII's acceptance of painless childbirth, praising its Soviet discoverer Pavlov, and asking that Indonesian scientists be enabled to learn the method for mass application.
ACDWF telegrams for 8 March to women's groups incl. Gerwani (Renmin Ribao, 8 March 1956)
Xinhua note in Renmin Ribao, 8 Mar 1956 (p. 4): the All-China Democratic Women's Federation sent International Women's Day telegrams to women's bodies in India, Burma, Pakistan, Egypt and Japan and, in Indonesia, to Gerwani, to Kowani (the Indonesian Women's Congress) and to the Indonesian Women's 8 March Commemoration
ACDWF telegrams for 8 March to women's groups incl. Gerwani (Renmin Ribao, 8 March 1956)
Xinhua note in Renmin Ribao, 8 Mar 1956 (p. 4): the All-China Democratic Women's Federation sent International Women's Day telegrams to women's bodies in India, Burma, Pakistan, Egypt and Japan and, in Indonesia, to Gerwani, to Kowani (the Indonesian Women's Congress) and to the Indonesian Women's 8 March Commemoration
Umi Sardjono at the WIDF 10th anniversary: women's rights in the Konstituante (Bintang Timur, 9 March 1956)
Front page (with pp. 2-4) of Bintang Timur, Jakarta, 9 Mar 1956. One column reports the 10th-anniversary celebration of the Women's International Democratic Federation (GWDS/WIDF) at the SBKA hall, Manggarai: Gerwani chair Umi Sardjono urges women's organisations to get women's rights written into the Konstituante, cit
Film censorship and film council
Java-Bode, 15 March 1956, p. 2: installation of the new film censorship committee (chair Maria Ulfah Santoso) and film council at the education ministry. Among some thirty censorship members is Setiati Soerasto (Surasto), a figure from the 1953 Copenhagen delegation; the item gives no Gerwani affiliation or comment.
Mrs Salawati Daud elected to the new DPR; inauguration of parliament and Ali cabinet (Bintang Timur, 26 March 1956)
Front page (with pp. 2-4) of Bintang Timur, Jakarta, 26 Mar 1956, on the swearing-in of 217 members of the new DPR and Ali Sastroamidjojo's cabinet. Captioned photos show Sukarno with PKI member Mudigdo and Masyumi's Mangunpuspito, and welcoming Salawati Daud, a non-party PKI candidate from Makassar. Women MPs (13 in a
Appreciation from Gerwani
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1956-03-28, p. 2): Gerwani's West Java branch publishes an open letter praising the police over the Tengku Angkasa affair, but argues prostitution persists while foreign capital controls resources and prices rise. It urges police to support the people's struggle against foreign capital and for
Salawati Daud speaks in the DPR on DI/TII terror and security (Bintang Timur, 13 April 1956)
Front page (with pp. 2-4) of Bintang Timur, Jakarta, 13 Apr 1956, reporting the DPR's first-round debate on the Ali cabinet programme. Ch. Salawati Daud (PKI, non-party) speaks on security: she says Masyumi and DI/TII share an ideology differing only in method, urges amnesty and caution toward rebels, calls for housing
Law concerning the RTC agreements
Java-Bode, 16 April 1956, p. 2: parliamentary debate on the government programme and abolition of the RTC agreements, with Sakirman (PKI), Prawoto and others. Umi Sardjono of the Pembangunan faction spoke on the lot of Indonesian women, still unprotected by marriage legislation.
Umi Sardjono in the DPR on the Maisuri case (Bintang Timur, 17 April 1956)
Bintang Timur (Jakarta daily), 17 April 1956, full issue. The Gerwani-relevant item is a report on the DPR debate on the Ali Sastroamidjojo cabinet programme, in which Umi Sardjono (Fraksi Pembangunan) objects to a verdict punishing Maisuri for refusing a forced customary marriage and demands abolition of feudal remnan
Short Algemeen Indisch Dagblad item (1956-04-17, p. 2): Umi Sardjono, MP of the Pembangun faction, speaks in parliament on the lot of Indonesian women, who lack marriage legislation protection, and appeals for national marriage legislation in the short term.
Mrs Umi Sardjono in parliament pleads for national marriage legislation
Short De Nieuwsgier parliamentary note (17 Apr 1956): Umi Sardjono (listed as Pembangunan faction) spoke on the fate of Indonesian women, still unprotected by marriage legislation, and pleaded for national marriage legislation.
Kartini committee in Rangkasbitung
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1956-04-20, p. 2): in Rangkasbitung a Kartini committee is formed with Hartati (Gerwani) as chairwoman and all women's organisations taking part; Kartini Day events from 21 April include a health campaign and a commemoration speech. A second item reports a school and meeting hall built by comm
Short Algemeen Indisch Dagblad item (1956-04-20, p. 3): Mrs. Umi Sardjono (Pembangunan faction) again raises marriage in parliament, hoping for a legal marriage regulation soon and a closer study of adat law in the various regions of Indonesia.
USIS refuses Gerwani representative; Gerwani central board explains (Bintang Timur, 8 May 1956)
Bintang Timur (Jakarta daily), 8 May 1956, full issue. A front-page item reports that the Indonesian Women's Congress decided to send five organisation representatives, including one from Gerwani, to accompany the delegation to the UN Economic and Social Council in New York, but USIS refused the Gerwani delegate withou
Indonesian women briefly in Amsterdam en route to Budapest working women's conference
De Waarheid, 24 May 1956, p. 4: report on eight Indonesian women briefly in Amsterdam en route to the international conference of working women in Budapest (until 17 June), after a Soviet visit. They represent health, tea or cigarette, industrial and union workers, including Suhartini, Sutjati, Sudjinem, Supinah, Sumar
Berliner Zeitung, 27 May 1956, p. 6: In June in Budapest ...
Berliner Zeitung, 27 May 1956, p. 6: women's column item "Im Juni wird in Budapest ..." ahead of the World Congress of Working Women. One short paragraph reports that the Indonesian women's organisation GERWANI demands a ban on child marriage, forced marriage and bride-purchase, an end to the ban on widows remarrying,
Setiati Surasto leads Sarbupri women workers' delegation to Moscow (Bintang Timur, 28 May 1956)
Bintang Timur (Jakarta daily), 28 May 1956, full issue. A short foreign-news item on page 3 reports that a delegation of Indonesian women workers arrived in Moscow at the invitation of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, led by Setiati Surasto, Sarbupri's Secretary for Economic Affairs, and planning a tour o
Moscow News, 30 May 1956: Indonesian women's delegation in Moscow
Moscow News (English), 30 May 1956, p. 5. Among general items (Afghan independence day, Anglo-Soviet and trade comment), a short piece reports a delegation of Indonesian women arriving in Moscow at the invitation of the Central Council of Trade Unions, led by Setiati Surasto, secretary of the plantation workers' union,
Gerwani Central Sumatra demands death penalty
Short item, Indische Courant voor Nederland, 5 Jul 1956, p. 2: the Gerwani Central Sumatra branch writes to the government demanding the death penalty for Attamimi, tried for a sexual assault that killed a woman from Pasuruan, and urges other women's groups to do the same.
Gerwani Central Sumatra demands death penalty (full page)
Whole newspaper page, Indische Courant voor Nederland, c. 3-5 Jul 1956. Relevant items: Gerwani Central Sumatra demands the death penalty for Attamimi, accused of a fatal sexual assault; and the Kongres Wanita Indonesia's contacts with India, Burma and others toward an Asian-African women's congress.
Daily Worker, 24 July 1956: Women unionists from 42 lands hold conference in Budapest
Page 4 of the Daily Worker (New York, 24 Jul 1956) reporting a Budapest conference of women trade unionists from 42 countries called by the WFTU, which demanded equal pay and opportunities and paid maternity leave. An unnamed delegate from Indonesia is cited on women workers being treated as cheap labour. Gerwani is no
Domestic news roundup: Buleleng Gerwani protests bail in rape-murder case
Domestic news roundup in De Nieuwsgier (11 Aug 1956). One item: the Buleleng branch of Gerwani protested to the government against the release on bail (Rp 400,000) of S. Atamimi, suspected of rape and murder, demanding re-arrest and heavy punishment. Other items concern military operations and Fatmawati Sukarno.
Mrs Fatmawati Sukarno
Java-Bode, 14 August 1956, p. 2: Fatmawati Sukarno arrives in Surabaya after visiting her mother-in-law in Blitar with daughters Megawati and Sukmawati, calling it a family visit. Representatives of Gerwani's Surabaya branch handed her a resolution raising the Atamimi question; she did not answer whether she would go w
Indonesian women's leaders meet Song Qingling (Renmin Ribao, 18 August 1956)
Renmin Ribao, 18 Aug 1956, p. 1 (Xinhua, Jakarta): Song Qingling, visiting Indonesia, is welcomed at a gathering of Indonesian women's leaders on 16 August, chaired by Mrs Abdulgani, with Kowani chair Mrs Santoso and wives of leading politicians present. Song speaks on peaceful coexistence and women's rights. Gerwani i