Our Strength: column on the WIDF Council in Moscow
De Waarheid column "Our Strength" by L.B. (25 Nov 1949) on the WIDF Council meeting in Moscow (15-20 Nov) and the 1948 Budapest congress, reflecting on women's unity and the daily struggle of a Dutch communist housewife. Indonesia appears only in a list of women's liberation struggles.
Mrs Robeson in Amsterdam (report on the Asian women's conference in Beijing)
Het Parool report (18 Jan 1950, p.168) on a press conference in Amsterdam by Eslanda Robeson, with Rie Lips-Odinot, Mrs L. Suripno who represented Indonesian women in Beijing, and Annie van Ommeren-Averink, after the December 1949 Asian Women's conference in Beijing and a Moscow meeting of women from 36 countries. They
Daily Worker, 17 April 1950: I saw Mao Tse-tung - delegate's report on the Conference of the Women of Asia, Peking
Page 5 of the Daily Worker (New York, 17 Apr 1950) carrying Betty Millard's first article on the Peking Conference of the Women of Asia, organised by the WIDF. She describes the train journey from Moscow with delegates including a Dutch woman active against arms shipments to Indonesia. OCR is garbled and the article co
Delegation to Moscow International Economic Conference includes Kartinah (Gerwis) (Harian Rakjat, 2 April 1952)
Harian Rakjat, 2 Apr 1952, p.1: front page covers the new Wilopo cabinet and the Indonesian delegation to the international economic conference in Moscow, which lists Kartinah as Gerwis representative alongside delegates from Pemuda Rakyat, the peasant front and trade unions. The headline about 'equal spirit of women a
Dissolution meeting of the 8 March Committee at Gerwis building, Mrs Sutanti Aidit (Harian Rakjat, 19 April 1952)
Harian Rakjat, 19 April 1952. On p. 5 a short report says the 8 March (International Women's Day) Committee held its dissolution meeting at the Gerwis building, Gang Lontar, Jakarta, chaired by Ny. Sutanti Aidit of Gerwis; delegates of Gerwis, Pemuda Puteri Indonesia, Perwari, PWKI and other women's bodies adopted a re
Literaturnaia Gazeta, 10 Jun 1952: World Peace Council Bureau statement (Suwarti signs)
Front page of Literaturnaia Gazeta, 10 June 1952, carrying a World Peace Council Bureau statement defending the French peace movement. Signatories include 'Mrs. Suwarti (Indonesia), member of parliament' (Gerwis/Gerwani leader Suwarti), alongside Joliot-Curie, Eugenie Cotton (WIDF), Brecht and Neruda. Also notes the Pe
Pravda, 22 Jul 1952: WIDF executive committee session, Bucharest
Pravda p. 3, 22 July 1952: TASS reports from the 13th session of the WIDF executive committee in Bucharest and a mass women's meeting addressed by Eugenie Cotton. Darmini (Indonesia) is listed among debaters on Carmen Santi's report on child defence; national committees reportedly formed in Indonesia. Content of Darmin
Indonesian peace delegation visits Netherlands en route to Asia-Pacific Peace Conference
De Waarheid, 13 Sep 1952, p. 1: report from Amsterdam on a 20-member Indonesian delegation en route via Prague and Moscow to the Asia-Pacific Peace Conference in Beijing, led by Antara editor Soeroto, who opposes Japanese rearmament and says the war danger comes from America. Members include Moh. Tam and Umi Sardjono o
World mourns Stalin, including Gerwis telegram (Renmin Ribao, 17 March 1953)
Renmin Ribao, 17 Mar 1953 (p. 4), roundup of world mourning for Stalin: Togliatti's article and Brazilian, French and British tributes. In the Indonesia section the PKI issued a proclamation and held a memorial meeting (Sudisman eulogising), Harian Rakjat and other papers eulogised him, and Gerwis sent a telegram of gr
World mourns Stalin, including Gerwis telegram (Renmin Ribao, 17 March 1953)
Renmin Ribao, 17 Mar 1953 (p. 4), roundup of world mourning for Stalin: Togliatti's article and Brazilian, French and British tributes. In the Indonesia section the PKI issued a proclamation and held a memorial meeting (Sudisman eulogising), Harian Rakjat and other papers eulogised him, and Gerwis sent a telegram of gr
Russian women visiting for the Gerwani congress
De Vrije Pers item (6 Apr 1954), citing Suluh Indonesia: three Soviet women (A. Kholopova of Moscow University, a poetess and a translator) arrived in Jakarta to attend the Gerwani congress and gave a talk on women's position in the USSR; the paper remarks they wore no lipstick and simple dresses.
Russian guests for 'Gerwani'
Java-Bode, 6 April 1954, p. 2: citing Suluh Indonesia, three Soviet women (A. Kholopova of Moscow University, poetess K. Sowilyowa, translator T. Gerinewa) arrived in Jakarta for the Gerwani congress and lectured at Podium on Soviet women's position and rights. The paper remarks on their lack of lipstick and simple dre
Russian guests for Gerwani
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 14 Apr 1954, p. 2, citing Suluh Indonesia: three Soviet women (A. Kholopova of Moscow University, poet K. Sowilyowa, translator T. Gerinewa) arrive in Jakarta on 4 April for the Gerwani congress and lecture on Soviet women's rights; the paper remarks they wore no lipstick and simple dre
Communist Meetings 1954 Programme (Southern Cross, 30 April 1954)
Southern Cross (Adelaide), 30 April 1954, p. 16, anti-communist piece listing 'Communist-sponsored' international meetings for the coming year. Only a passing reference touches the field: an International Children's Defence Day under the WIDF, and a World Peasant Youth Congress expected in Jakarta in November. A separa
Meeting with Indonesian women: delegation returns from the Soviet Union
De Waarheid, 8 Sep 1954, p. 5: report on an Indonesian women's delegation passing through Amsterdam after five weeks in the USSR (three in Moscow). Members came from different organisations: Masjumi Islamic women (Samsudin), PM Ali Sastroamidjojo's sister, Partai Buruh, a ministry official, students, Wanita Taman Siswa
Djakarta postpones the evil day (The Observer, 16 January 1955)
The Observer, 16 Jan 1955, p.7, Rawle Knox, 'Djakarta Postpones the Evil Day': impressionistic report from Jakarta on a lively, disorderly capital, the Ali Sastroamidjojo government's dependence on Communist support, Sukarno's drift from impartiality, the delayed first election and anti-Dutch boycotts. A passing quote
Pravda, 4 Jul 1955: World Congress of Mothers; the situation in Indonesia
Pravda, 4 July 1955 (selected pages 1, 3, 4). Page 3: WIDF deputy secretary Z. Ivanova on preparations for the World Congress of Mothers (Lausanne, 7-10 July); says WIDF established cooperation in Indonesia with 'the numerous women's organization Gerwani' and the plantation workers' union, and that Indonesia's committe
Sukarno's 'find'
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 15 November 1955, p. 1: hostile Dutch editorial on Sukarno's Heroes' Day speech alleging a foreign plot. Among causes of his declining popularity it lists 'the indignation of the organised Indonesian women, who do not appreciate the marriage escapades of their president'. Gerwani is not name
Pravda, 1956: working people of Indonesia respond to the 20th CPSU Congress
Pravda, No. 59, 1956 (c. 28 Feb), p. 3: Jakarta dispatch 'The working people of Indonesia speak' among foreign responses to the 20th CPSU Congress. SOBSI leaders (Sumandi, Sudoyo, Sudadi) praise the Congress; Gerwani leader Suharti says she followed it via newspapers and Moscow radio in Indonesian and is 'amazed' at So
Pravda, 1956: interview with Gerwani leader Suharti (excerpt)
Keyword-hit excerpt of Pravda, No. 59, 1956 (Jakarta dispatch of 27 Feb) on Indonesian reactions to the 20th CPSU Congress: SOBSI Jakarta secretary Sudadi and Suharti, 'leader of the women's organization Gerwani', who says she followed the Congress and admires Soviet progress toward communism. Followed by an unrelated
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.
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
Indian Daily Mail, 27 May 1956 (lead only). A delegation of Indonesian working women arrived in Moscow at the invitation of the Soviet trade-union council (VTsSPS), led by Setiati Surasto, secretary for economic affairs of an Indonesian agricultural (peasant) organisation. Solidarity with the socialist bloc.
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,
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
Gudok, 17 Aug 1956: 'Indonesia today' for the Republic's 11th anniversary
Gudok (Soviet railwaymen's paper), 17 Aug 1956, p. 4. Survey article by G. Svetlanov for the Republic's 11th anniversary: Dutch colonial legacy, nationalisations, five-year plan, foreign policy and Sukarno's coming visit. One passage lists Gerwani, 'half a million members', among leading patriotic mass organisations be
Gerwani's greetings to Egyptian women (Bintang Timur, 28 August 1956)
Bintang Timur, 28 August 1956, p. 2 (four-page issue; OCR jumbled). A short item, 'Salam Gerwani pada wanita Mesir', reports Gerwani's message of solidarity to Egyptian women in the Suez nationalisation crisis: Indonesian women are 'proud' and fully support Egypt's heroic, patriotic defence of its national claim. Surro
Pravda, 5 Sep 1956: President Sukarno's visit to the Soviet Union
Pravda, 5 Sept 1956 (No. 249), partial issue (pp. 1, 4, 6, machine-translated): TASS and correspondents' reports on President Sukarno's tour of the USSR (Sverdlovsk, Tashkent) and Indonesian reactions. On p. 6 O. Chechetkina quotes Darmini, 'one of the leaders of the mass women's organization Gerwani', hailing the visi
Surabaya Post, 21 January 1957, p. 2: Sujoso's lecture on a visit to Moscow
Surabaya Post p. 2, 21 January 1957: Malang report on Masyumi MP A.W. Sujoso's lecture on the parliamentary mission to Moscow, mocking Soviet life and saying Indonesian women, 'surely also Gerwani', would reject Soviet views on free unions. Gerwani appears only as a foil in anti-communist rhetoric.