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
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
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
Java-Bode, 10 February 1955, p. 2: report on supplementary testimony in the Maisuri forced-marriage case before the customary court in South Sumatra, showing the marriage was arranged by Hadji Achmad, his wife, her father and an intermediary without Maisuri's consent. It notes Gerwani and other women's organisations ma
Java-Bode, 10 February 1955, p. 2: report that the customary court at Tanjungraja began re-examining the Maisuri case on appeal. Maisuri, forced by her father to marry a 45-year-old hadji, married her chosen partner Kojum instead and was sentenced with him and her uncle to six months. Prominent Palembang women and Sout
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
De Locomotief, 12 Feb 1955: the adat court at Tanjungraja re-examines the Maisuri case, a village girl forced by her father to marry a 45-year-old hadji, who instead married the youth she chose and was sentenced to six months with her husband and uncle. Prominent Palembang women and delegates of Gerwani's South Sumatra
De Locomotief, 12 Feb 1955: follow-up on the Maisuri forced-marriage case. Supplementary testimony shows Maisuri never agreed to marry Hadji Achmad and the match was arranged without her and her mother. The case became a national question through Gerwani and other women's organisations, which see it as breaking the con
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 16 Feb 1955, p. 3: the customary court at Tanjungraja re-examines the Maisuri case, a village girl forced to marry a 45-year-old hadji who sentenced her and her chosen husband to six months. Gerwani South Sumatra delegates attend; Gerwani and other women's groups made it a national issu
Indian Daily Mail (Singapore), 2 March 1955, p. 1: the third Indonesian Women's Congress is held in Palembang, 2-6 March, with 300 delegates of women's organisations. Preparatory committee chair is Mrs S.A. Hanafiah (Gerwani), secretary Mrs R. Mailan (Gerwani), treasurer Mrs Djauhari; Perwari, Gerwani, Wanita Demokrat
De Locomotief, 9 Mar 1955: Salatiga's women's federation (10 organisations) marks International Women's Day on 8 March in the people's building; Mrs Kaslah of Gerwani gives the opening speech and Mrs Sugijarto of Rukun Wanita explains the day's meaning, followed by remarks from agencies and parties.
Suara Kalimantan (Banjarmasin), 9 Mar 1955, p. 3: report on International Women's Day (8 March 1955), about 1,500 women, mostly Chinese-Indonesian, with a lecture on Clara Zetkin by Nj. Soeparsono and a speaker from Gerwani.
La Presse (17 May 1955, p.10): feature on a Muslim feminist campaign against polygamy, starting with the Pakistani PM Mohamed Ali's second marriage and spreading to Java. Says Fatmawati Sukarno was recruited and that Hartini was pregnant during the Bandung Conference. A snippet names Mme Suharti, president of the 'very
La Presse (17 May 1955, p.10), snippet extract of the polygamy feature: unrest in Indonesia over Sukarno's marriage to Hartini, in which Mme Suharti, president of the 'very communist-leaning' Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani), took advantage; Hartini's pregnancy surfaced as the Bandung Conference drew attention.
Fragmentary Algemeen Indisch Dagblad item 'Een tehuis' (1955-06-02, p. 2): proposal for a children's home with expert carers for neglected children of working or ill parents. The plan arose at a meeting of main women's organisations, including Perwari, Budi Isteri and Gerwani, in Bandung; a founding committee formed on
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
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (5 Sep 1955, p.1): S. Hadikusumo, head of the central election committee, says all regions except unrest areas (Aceh, South Sulawesi) are ready for the 29 September 1955 parliamentary elections. Gerwani urged its members to help ensure elections are held on time because they will express wom
De Locomotief, 7 Sept 1955: the Gerwani branch in Jombang forms a committee, led by a Mrs Kenrati (uncertain), to set up a children's care centre during the coming general elections so mothers can vote calmly. Evidence of Gerwani's practical electoral support for women and childcare.
Java-Bode, 8 September 1955, p. 2: news column. The Gerwani branch Djomblang (Jombang) formed a committee to run a child day-care centre during the elections so mothers can vote calmly. Other items concern Surabaya mobilising students as polling-station order helpers and Colonel Simbolon's visit to Sukarno.
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 14 Sep 1955, p. 1: the Gerwani Jomblang branch sets up a committee to run a children's day-care place during the 1955 elections so mothers can vote in peace. Same item reports Surabaya's plan to use students as order-keepers at polling stations.
De Waarheid, 21 Sep 1955, p. 5: air-mail report on the PKI's 1955 election campaign: Aidit speaking to 700,000 in Yogyakarta, 550,000 in Semarang, Njoto and Lukman elsewhere. In Jakarta, Umi Sardjono, chair of Gerwani, explained why she stands as a non-party candidate on the PKI list, saying its programme matches the d
De Nieuwsgier item (28 Nov 1955) reporting a Gerwani central board statement: speaking of the president's household while ignoring the fight for a democratic marriage law is pointless. It urges women to vote so the Konstituante secures women's rights per the UN Declaration, citing the forced marriage of Maisuri of Tanj
De Locomotief, 29 Nov 1955: statement by Gerwani's central board (OCR partly garbled) calling for a democratic marriage law, citing the Maisuri forced-marriage case as proof that women's constitutional rights are violated. It urges women to be active in the Constituent Assembly elections and argues the 'first lady' deb
Java-Bode, 29 November 1955, p. 2: partly missing statement by the Gerwani central board secretariat, on the 'first lady' debate, urging women to be active in the Konstituante elections and to focus on a democratic marriage law, not on the first-lady status. It rejects privileges derived from a husband's position and c
Java-Bode, 29 November 1955, p. 2: Gerwani central board secretariat statement on women's position in marriage, ahead of the Konstituante elections and amid the 'first lady' issue. It says women's constitutional rights are not respected, citing the Maisuri forced-marriage case, and blames governments' failure to enact
De Locomotief, 30 Nov 1955: Gerwani's central board announces its proposals for marriage regulation to the coming Constituante: marriage without coercion, free choice and equal rights; abolition of child, forced and purchase marriages and mistress-keeping; polygamy to be forbidden in principle, and if allowed on religi
Whole scrambled page of De Locomotief, 30 Nov 1955, with the fullest text of Gerwani's four-point marriage programme for the Constituante: no coercion, abolition of child, forced and purchase marriages and mistresses, polygamy forbidden in principle, divorce open to both sexes before a court and support for divorced wo
De Locomotief, 30 Nov 1955: Gerwani Semarang held an evening of lectures by board members on women's rights and the inequality kept in force by Government Regulation 19 (1952 pensions for plural wives). Speakers recalled the organisation's help in vote counting and childcare centres during the elections. Text partly ga
Short De Nieuwsgier item (30 Nov 1955): Gerwani, via board member Maria Ulfa Santoso, publicly condemned a planned "Bunga Indonesia" beauty contest by Gadjah Mada University students in Yogyakarta; student representatives were to travel to Jakarta to talk with the Gerwani board.
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 3 Dec 1955, p. 3: statement by the Gerwani central board secretariat, citing the Maisuri case, that women's constitutional rights are not respected without a democratic marriage law. Urges women to take part in Konstituante elections and rejects the 'first lady' debate as divisive and a