Djuanda vows to carry out programme; parties and groups back the new cabinet (Renmin Ribao, 13 April 1957)
Renmin Ribao, 13 Apr 1957, p. 6 (Xinhua, Jakarta): PM Djuanda's broadcast on the new extra-parliamentary cabinet and reactions of parties and organisations (PNI, NU, PKI/Aidit, Masjumi, PSII, Parkindo, Murba). Gerwani appears only in a list of mass organisations, with SOBSI, Perwari and others, that telegraphed support
Pewarta Soerabaia, 7 October 1957: Surabaya women's organisations federation
Pewarta Soerabaia, 7 Oct 1957, p. 2: Surabaya women's federation elects a board (30 Sept 1957) with the governor's wife as patron and Nj. Moh. Tam of Gerwani as first secretary.
Monday evening (page 3, 21 Nov 1957)
Page image of Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1957-11-21, p. 3) with several articles. Relevant: the parliamentary budget debate in which PKI women MPs Umi Sardjono and Sundari Abdulrachman speak (same text as GA-00568), and Lt.-Col. Dachjar addressing a meeting of the 'Gerakan Massa Wanita' (Women's Mass Movement) in Jakart
History of Jakarta City Government (Greater Jakarta Municipality, 1958)
Sedjarah Pemerintahan Kota Djakarta, an official history of Jakarta's city government from Dutch Batavia to the end of 1957, compiled by Drs. The Liang Gie and published by the Kotapradja Djakarta Raya in 1958. It has nothing on Gerwani as such. It notes that women could vote for the Batavia council only from 1941 and
FBIS, 28 October 1958: Indonesians laud CPR construction gains
FBIS-monitored Xinhua item (28 Oct 1958; header misdates 1953): Indonesian political figures returning from China praised China's construction, communes and the Great Leap Forward. Includes Mme Kartowijono, Perwari secretary-general, praising communes' labour enthusiasm, food, clothing and education; Anwar Tjokroaminot
Birth and Growth of the Indonesian Women's Movement, Part II (Sulami, 1959)
Part II of Sulami's 1959 history: Indonesian women under Japanese occupation (Fujinkai, women coerced as 'geishas'), the 1945 proclamation, founding of Perwari (Klaten, Dec 1945), the formation of KOWANI (Solo, Feb 1946), its second congress at Madiun deciding to affiliate to WIDF, and women's role in partisan resistan
Biographic Data on Members of the Gotong Royong Parliament (US Embassy despatch, July 1960)
US State Department Central Files despatch from Embassy Djakarta (July 1960, chargé Rolland Buchner): biographic data, with alphabetical index, on about 110 former members of parliament appointed to the Gotong Royong parliament, grouped by party. Biographies of women MPs include Gerwani figures. Mrs Mudigdio (Gerwis/Ge
FBIS, 12 September 1961: Indonesian women's delegation (to China)
FBIS-monitored Xinhua item (12 Sep 1961): an Indonesian women's delegation left Jakarta for China at the invitation of the PRC Women's Federation, led by Mme Rusiah Sardjono (Persatuan Wanita Republik Indonesia) and including MP Mme Salawati of the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani), MP Mme Wahid Hasjim, Mme Sulardi
Renmin Ribao, 17 Nov 1962: Indonesian organisations back Cuba's five demands (Gerwani among them)
Renmin Ribao page 4, 17 November 1962: report that Korean, Vietnamese and Indonesian political groups back Cuba's five demands during the missile crisis. The excerpt lists Indonesian parties and bodies, including a women's association and the Indonesian Women's Movement Association (Gerwani), alongside labour and youth
Renmin Ribao, 17 Nov 1962: Indonesian organisations back Cuba's five demands (Gerwani among them)
Renmin Ribao page 4, 17 November 1962: report that Korean, Vietnamese and Indonesian political groups back Cuba's five demands during the missile crisis. The excerpt lists Indonesian parties and bodies, including a women's association and the Indonesian Women's Movement Association (Gerwani), alongside labour and youth
Sukarno presents gifts to Chairman Liu (Renmin Ribao, 21 April 1963)
Renmin Ribao, 21 Apr 1963, p. 2 (Xinhua, Jakarta): at the State Palace Sukarno presents gifts to Liu Shaoqi and Chen Yi before the farewell banquet; delegates of Indonesian organisations (Pemuda Rakjat, BTI, PKI, SOBSI, Baperki, Gerwani, Perwari and others) also present gifts, including a West Irian bird of paradise. G
Sukarno presents gifts to Chairman Liu (Renmin Ribao, 21 April 1963)
Renmin Ribao, 21 Apr 1963, p. 2 (Xinhua, Jakarta): at the State Palace Sukarno presents gifts to Liu Shaoqi and Chen Yi before the farewell banquet; delegates of Indonesian organisations (Pemuda Rakjat, BTI, PKI, SOBSI, Baperki, Gerwani, Perwari and others) also present gifts, including a West Irian bird of paradise. G
A Little about the Indonesian Women's Movement
Api Kartini (late 1964) history of the Indonesian women's movement for Youth Pledge Day, tracing Kartini, Isteri Sedar, Perwari, wartime Fujinkai and Gerwis's founding on 4 June 1950 from the Gerakan Wanita Sedar, its name change to Gerwani after merging with railway workers' wives and Perwin Menado, joining Kowani and
FBIS-monitored Xinhua report (30 Sep 1964): Mao Zedong and other leaders received over 70 foreign guests on the eve of National Day. Among the Indonesians: Naibaho (Harian Rakjat editor), Siauw Giok Tjhan, and Mme Suharti, PKI Central Committee member and first vice chairman of the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani)
Peking Review no. 41, 9 October 1964: National Day guests including Suharti of Gerwani
Peking Review no. 41 (9 Oct 1964), Chinese state weekly, on the 15th anniversary of the People's Republic. A list of foreign guests received by Chinese leaders (p. 7) names Mme Suharti, PKI Central Committee member and First Vice-Chairman of Gerwani, with Mme Chairul Saleh (Women's Union of the Indonesian Republic), Mm
FO 371/181556: Joint Malaysia-Indonesia Department, Propaganda [1] (1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/181556 (Joint Malaysia-Indonesia Department, 1965): minutes, letters and telegrams on countering Indonesian propaganda during Konfrontasi (crashed-aircraft evidence, guidance telegram no. 36, Afro-Asian posts). It has nothing on Gerwani in the official papers. Filed within it is a printed
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 10 December 1965: Chaerul Saleh condemns Lubang Buaya terror, Perwa...
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 10 Desember 1965. Arrest round-up with 'a Gerwani'; Chaerul Saleh condemns the 'terror of Lubang Buaya in which Gerwani took an important part' and announces expulsion of Perwari members also in Gerwani.
President Speaks to Women's Association (FBIS, 17 Dec 1965)
FBIS item (Jakarta radio, 17 Dec 1965) on Sukarno's speech at Perwari's 20th anniversary rally. He stressed ideas and Pantjasila, and the need for men and women together. Chaerul Saleh urged care for children of Gestapu victims or participants. Minister Rusiah Sardjono pledged Perwari loyalty. Gerwani is not named; the
Speech to Women's Group: Sukarno at Perwari Anniversary (FBIS, 17 Dec 1965)
FBIS summary of Sukarno's 17 Dec 1965 speech at the Perwari anniversary rally. He praised West Irian volunteer Herlina, discussed ideas and 'progressive' versus 'retrogressive' revolutionaries, and defended Nasakom. He ordered a tribunal for those directly involved in Gestok and said those responsible for killing innoc
Airgram A-408: Joint Weeka no. 48, 21 Dec 1965
US Embassy Joint Weeka no. 48 (airgram A-408), 21 Dec 1965: estimates 100,000 PKI deaths and 10,000 on Bali; notes Sukarno addressing the 20th anniversary of Perwari. Only women-related scene is a non-communist women's group used as a stage.
Berita Yudha, 11 June 1966
Berita Yudha, 11 Juni 1966. Front page: Lt-Gen. Suharto at Perwari's 10th congress, where he is honoured 'Penyelamat Revolusi' and claims 40% of Central Java army units had been infiltrated; Gerwani mentioned.
Berita Yudha, 5 October 1966: interview with Ibu Tien Soeharto
Berita Yudha, 5 Oktober 1966: wawancara Ibu Tien Soeharto. Armed Forces Day issue with a front-page interview with Ibu Tien Soeharto, 'May our children not inherit the barbarity and immorality of Gerwani', and Perwari conferring 'Penyelamat Revolusi' on Suharto.
Interview with Maria Ulfah Santoso: PKI and Gerwani tried to control Kowani (Tempo, c. 1977; JPRS)
JPRS translation of a Tempo profile (c. early 1977) of Maria Ulfah Santoso (b. Serang 1911): her marriage to political prisoner Soebadio Sastrosatomo with Subandrio's help (Jan 1964), early women's-movement work, Perwari and Kowani, and the PSI. She says that during her 11 years leading Kowani from 1952, 'PKI and Gerwa
TAPOL Bulletin no. 54 (London, Nov 1982), 24 pages, mostly on West Papua, East Timor, Borobudur and military law. Its 'Spotlight on Two Tapols' profiles Napsiah, a veteran of Pesindo/Perwari who joined the PKI in 1949, helped build Gerwani in East Java and sat on the PKI East Java committee. Arrested in 1968 after the
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
Bernas, 8 January 1992: 'Pluralism and Indonesian women'
Bernas (Yogyakarta), 8 Jan 1992, p. 4: essay by a UGM student on Indonesian women's organisations 1945–65, noting sharp Guided Democracy conflict between Gerwani and Kowani culminating in 1965, and criticising later homogenisation.
Notes of Sulami, Former Gerwani Secretary-General (YPKP 1965, 2006)
Sulami's reflective essay (written 1992, posted 9 Nov 2006) on why revolutionary women founded Gerwis on 4 June 1950, its rejection of 'man-hating feminism', its actions such as Tanjung Morawa and International Women's Day. First-person account by a Gerwani secretary-general.
Tempo, 18 April 2016: Onward the women's movement
Tempo editorial note (18 Apr 2016), recalling a 1978 Kartini Day feature on the women's movement from Aceh 1614 to the 1970s. It describes Kowani's formation (1946), Perwari's protest over Sukarno's 1954 marriage to Hartini, Perwari being squeezed as Gerwani, 'affiliated with the PKI', gained influence, and Gerwani ste
Tempo, 2 October 2021: Gerwani, Sukarno and polygamy (Gerwani and the dilemma of brotherhood)
Tempo essay (2 Oct 2021) by I Gusti Agung Ayu Ratih on why Gerwani did not criticise Sukarno's polygamy. It recounts Kowani expelling Gerwani on 29 Oct 1965 and removing Hurustiati Subandrio in 1966, the erasure of Gerwani from women's movement history, Perwari rivalry, Gerwani members' reverence for Sukarno, and anti-
Tempo, 2 October 2021: Limp before Bung Karno (why Gerwani did not criticise Sukarno's polygamy)
Tempo piece (2 Oct 2021, Hussein Abri and Stefanus Pramono) on why Gerwani, loudly anti-polygamy, stayed silent when Sukarno married Hartini. Umi Sardjono told Ruth Indiah Rahayu it was a private matter and Gerwani still needed Sukarno against imperialism (Harian Rakjat, 4 Jan 1956); Perwari backed Fatmawati; Amurwani