Monica Felton (WIDF Vice-President) writes in 1954 on the Second Congress of Gerwani, which she attended: 349 delegates, 80,000 members, a meeting with President Sukarno, resolutions on West Irian, the 1955 elections, a nationwide marriage law, democratic rights and support for the government against armed gangs. She s
Izvestiia, 11 Apr 1954. TASS, citing Harian Rakyat: when a Soviet women's delegation led by A. Kholopova reached Surakarta (Solo), thousands of Gerwani members, students and housewives met it in a demonstration of friendship; the delegation received dozens of invitations in Surakarta and Yogyakarta.
Tribune (Sydney), 12 May 1954, p. 11: Allison Dickie, Union of Australian Women delegate, reports on the 1954 Indonesian women's congress. She describes Gerwis, the league of women 'more politically awake', whose work helped hundreds of thousands become literate and from which Gerwani developed; the six-day Gerwani Nat
Tribune (Sydney), 12 May 1954, p. 11: Allison Dickie, Union of Australian Women delegate, reports on the 1954 Indonesian women's congress. She describes Gerwis, the league of women 'more politically awake', whose work helped hundreds of thousands become literate and from which Gerwani developed; the six-day Gerwani Nat
De Waarheid, 12 May 1954, p. 5: opening of an interview with Rie Lips, vice-chair of the NVB, back from six weeks on Java after the Gerwis/Gerwani congress. She rejects stereotypes of Indonesians as lazy, dirty or stupid, citing women who work in factories or walk hours to attend meetings of the women's movement, 'the
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
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
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
Znamia, 31 Oct 1954, p. 124: opening of Yekaterina Shevelyova's travel essay 'On the Island of Java'. She says a Soviet Anti-Fascist Women's Committee delegation, invited by Gerwani, spent almost a month in Java, then summarises Dutch colonialism, the 1949 Round Table settlement, and the 1954 dissolution of the Dutch-I
WIDF commemorative booklet (Berlin, 1955) for its tenth anniversary: history from the 1945 Paris founding congress, peace and anti-atom campaigns, the 1953 Copenhagen Congress, children's work, the 1955 Lausanne World Congress of Mothers. Page 28 states that in Indonesia 'the women's organization which had 6,000 member
Simone Bertrand, WIDF Assistant General Secretary, reports in 1955 on the Fifth WIDF Council meeting in Geneva (45 countries). She cites GERWANI as a remarkable example: mostly peasant and plantation women, membership up from 80,000 to 281,000 in a year, and with nine organisations it formed a committee opposing a US b
WIDF magazine 'Women Write to Us' (1955), country letters after the World Congress of Mothers (Lausanne): Bulgaria, Argentina, France, India floods, and Indonesia. The Indonesia item reports delegate Mme Suryadarma's warm airport welcome, press and radio coverage of her Congress speech, and the Indonesian Women's Movem
De Waarheid, 9 Mar 1955, p. 2: Jakarta report on the start of a signature campaign against atomic war, signed by ministers, professors and Masjumi's Wiwoho. Gerwani called on all women to join, aiming for 10,000 signatures in 12 weeks. A Peace Committee delegation was received by Sukarno; wives of the Jakarta mayor and
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
Keyword-hit excerpt of Pravda, 4 July 1955, from the article on preparing the World Congress of Mothers (Lausanne). Records that WIDF organisations established cooperation in Indonesia with 'the numerous women's organization Gerwani' and the plantation workers' union, alongside links in Australia, New Zealand, Norway,
De Waarheid, 12 Dec 1955, p. 3: report on the NVB's festive evening in Amsterdam for the WIDF's tenth anniversary, with a speech by Betty Zeehandelaar on equal pay and women's rights, a Belgian greeting, and a Scapino ballet programme. At the close, letters were sent to the WIDF and to Gerwani asserting Indonesia's rig
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
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
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao, 26 Apr 1956 (p. 1), on day two of the WIDF Council meeting in Beijing, with speeches from Indian, German, Malagasy, Argentine, Soviet, Tunisian and British delegates. Suharti, WIDF Council member and vice-chairman of Gerwani, says Indonesian women's organisations are growing, oppose US ef
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao, 26 Apr 1956 (p. 1), on day two of the WIDF Council meeting in Beijing, with speeches from Indian, German, Malagasy, Argentine, Soviet, Tunisian and British delegates. Suharti, WIDF Council member and vice-chairman of Gerwani, says Indonesian women's organisations are growing, oppose US ef
Renmin Ribao, 7 May 1956, p. 5: abridged speeches (part 1) at the WIDF Council meeting in Beijing. Includes a short statement by Mrs Suharti for Gerwani, welcoming the Bandung resolutions, reporting that Gerwani set up the national preparatory committee and delegation for the Lausanne World Assembly of Mothers, and not
Renmin Ribao, 7 May 1956, p. 5: abridged speeches (part 1) at the WIDF Council meeting in Beijing. Includes a short statement by Mrs Suharti for Gerwani, welcoming the Bandung resolutions, reporting that Gerwani set up the national preparatory committee and delegation for the Lausanne World Assembly of Mothers, and not
Page 4 of Pravda (8 March 1957), International Women's Day, carrying a statement signed 'T. Sulami, member of the national 8 March Committee of the Republic of Indonesia'. She describes Indonesian women's life and struggle, sixteen women elected to parliament and 33 to the Constituent Assembly, rising schooling, anti-c
Renmin Ribao, 23 Dec 1957, p. 6 (Xinhua, Jakarta): Sukarno receives WIDF vice-president Maria Maddalena Rossi, invited to Gerwani's Third National Congress, and says two billion people back Indonesia on West Irian; second item reports Djuanda placing the West Irian struggle under the National Security Council and the D
Renmin Ribao, 23 Dec 1957, p. 6 (Xinhua, Jakarta): Sukarno receives WIDF vice-president Maria Maddalena Rossi, invited to Gerwani's Third National Congress, and says two billion people back Indonesia on West Irian; second item reports Djuanda placing the West Irian struggle under the National Security Council and the D
Front page of l'Unità (PCI daily), 31 Dec 1957: special-correspondent interview by Maria Maddalena Rossi (UDI president, WIDF vice-president) with President Sukarno in Jakarta on 21 Dec. Rossi says she came for the WIDF to Gerwani's congress at Solo (23-27 Dec 1957) and conveyed WIDF solidarity; Sukarno discusses colon
OCR text version of the same l'Unità front page (31 Dec 1957): Maria Maddalena Rossi (UDI/WIDF) interviews Sukarno in Jakarta on 21 Dec, saying she attended the Gerwani congress at Solo for the WIDF and conveying WIDF solidarity; Sukarno speaks on anti-colonialism and the 'four-legged horse' concept. Rest of page cover
Report by Indian MP Geeta Mukherjee on Gerwani, attached to a WIDF circular of 21 April 1958, based on talks with her neighbour Suwarti Bintang Suradi, WIDF Secretariat member and Gerwani organisation chair. It covers Gerwis's 1950 origin and renaming, the Third Congress, membership growth (to 460,000 by August 1957),
WIDF study publication (Berlin, 1958) on protection of motherhood as a right of women and a responsibility of society, with country contributions from Study Days participants, the ILO Convention 103 text and national summaries. It names Suwarti Bintang Suradi as Gerwani executive member and constituent assembly member.
WIDF volume on the IVth Congress, Vienna, 1-5 June 1958: speeches, reports and resolutions. Gerwani appears directly: Mudigdio, vice-president of Gerwani and head of the Indonesian delegation, speaks (pp. 89-92) for 663,740 members, citing equal-pay claims, the Third Gerwani Congress (December 1957), West Irian, work w