Untruthful communist business: Gerwani congress in Jakarta
De Maasbode, 5 Apr 1954: Sukarno receives at the palace women attending the Gerwani congress in Jakarta (described as a continuation of the communist Gerwis). The Dutch communist MP Mrs Lips-Odinot conveys the 'peace-loving' Dutch people's support; Sukarno says New Guinea is the main barrier to good relations. Shows Ge
Sukarno hopes for a communist Netherlands (Gerwani congress received by Sukarno)
Eindhovensch Dagblad front-page report (5 Apr 1954) that President Sukarno received delegates of a congress in Jakarta of 'Gewani' (a continuation of communist Gerwis). Dutch communist MP Rie Lips-Odinot expressed support for Indonesia's national struggle; Sukarno answered that good relations require resolving New Guin
Good relations with Netherlands only after return of Irian (Gerwani received by Sukarno)
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (5 Apr 1954, p.1): President and Mrs Sukarno received Gerwani members (the former Gerwis) after their five-day Jakarta congress. Sukarno said a just state cannot be achieved by one sex alone. Dutch communist MP Rie Lips-Odinot, who attended, voiced Dutch sympathy; Sukarno replied that good r
Java-Bode, 5 April 1954, p. 2: WIDF vice-president Monica Felton lectured in Jakarta on the Federation's work and its relevance to Indonesia, after attending the second Gerwani congress as a guest. Rie Lips Odinot (Dutch Women's Movement) and the Australian Democratic Women's organisation also spoke on their groups' wo
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.
Foolish business in Jakarta (Gerwani congress 1954)
Gazet van Limburg editorial item (6 Apr 1954, p.1) disapproving that communist MP Rie Lips-Odinot, vice-chair of the Dutch communist women's movement, attends the Jakarta congress of 'Gewani' (Gerwani) and speaks for the 'peace-loving part' of the Dutch people supporting Indonesia's claim to New Guinea. It also objects
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
Visitors from Russia (delegation to the Gerwani congress)
One-sentence Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra item (7 Apr 1954, p.3): according to Suluh Indonesia, three Russian women arrived in Jakarta on Sunday to attend the congress of the Indonesian women's organisation Gerwani. Evidence of Soviet-bloc delegates at the 1954 congress.
Izvestiia, 11 Apr 1954: delegation of Soviet women in Indonesia
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.
Rie Lips in Indonesia: arrival for the second Gerwis congress
De Waarheid, 14 Apr 1954, p. 5: report on NVB chair Rie Lips and British writer Monica Felton arriving in Jakarta for the second Gerwis congress, warmly welcomed. Lips described Dutch women's protests against the colonial wars and support for conscientious objectors. The opening reception was attended by Jakarta mayor
Men and women must build the state together
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 14 Apr 1954, p. 3: President Sukarno receives Gerwani delegates after their five-day congress in Jakarta, saying women's problems are solved by a just state built by men and women together. Dutch MP Rie Lips-Odinot raises West Irian; WIDF vice-president Monica Felton lectures; Australia
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
Position of women discussed
Java-Bode, 23 April 1954, p. 2: Gerwani held a Wednesday-evening meeting at Adhuc Stat to welcome foreign women's delegates. Australian delegate Allison Diekei, Dutch delegate Rie Lips and Soviet delegate Alexandra Kholopova spoke on women's position in their countries; Kholopova also described study opportunities for
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
Gerwani central board (80,000 members) supports the WIDF at ECOSOC (Bintang Timur, 29 May 1954)
Bintang Timur (Jakarta daily), 29 May 1954, p. 2 of a multi-article issue; only one item concerns Gerwani. Its central board (DPP Gerwani), speaking for 80,000 members, protests to the UN against ECOSOC's removal of the WIDF from consultative status, citing a letter from WIDF president Eugenie Cotton, and demands reins
Conditions in Indonesia (Morning Bulletin, 1 June 1954)
Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 1 June 1954, p. 9, report of Allison Dickie, Victorian president of the Union of Australian Women, on her return from an Indonesian women's conference in Jakarta (360 delegates for 60,000 women; Dutch WIDF delegates present). She describes sex equality in the provisional constitution but
Impressive ceremony on the invasion beach (with item on Gerwani and the Union)
Het Vaderland front page (8 Jun 1954) opening with Dutch resistance veterans' wreath-laying at the Normandy invasion beaches, followed by Indonesian news. A short passage 'Indon. comm. women and the Union' says the Indonesian feminist movement Gerwani, recently hostess to delegations of communist women from Russia and
Izvestiia, 20 Jun 1954: 'In Indonesia', travel notes of a Soviet women's delegate
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
Peace: Soviet women visit Indonesia (account by Soviet delegates)
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
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
Mrs Suharti (Gerwani) and the PMI Volunteer Corps to Geneva (Harian Rakjat, 3 February 1955)
Harian Rakjat, 3 Feb 1955, p. 3: economic and local-news page. Gerwani appears only in a short item on the Palang Merah Indonesia Corps Sukarela (volunteer corps), which refers to Ny. Suharti of Gerwani and a Geneva trip in September 1952. The rest concerns textile imports and licences; OCR is poor and the Gerwani pass
Diane's Diary: New Homeland (Daily News, 9 February 1955)
Daily News (Perth), 9 Feb 1955, p. 18, 'Diane's Diary' women's column. The second item reports Mrs A. Dickie, a Presbyterian minister's wife, who was the Union of Australian Women's delegate to a conference in Djakarta 'conducted by the Indonesian Women's Movement' (about 500 women) in April 1954, then toured Java and
Diane's Diary: New Homeland (Daily News, 9 February 1955), duplicate
Daily News (Perth), 9 Feb 1955, p. 18, 'Diane's Diary' women's column. The second item reports Mrs A. Dickie, a Presbyterian minister's wife, who was the Union of Australian Women's delegate to a conference in Djakarta 'conducted by the Indonesian Women's Movement' (about 500 women) in April 1954, then toured Java and
Signature campaign against atomic war begins in Indonesia
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
Daily Worker, 26 April 1955: Bandung notebook - the spirit in the streets (Ralph Parker)
Page 2 of the Daily Worker (New York, 26 Apr 1955) with Ralph Parker's 'Bandung Notebook' on the Asian-African Conference: Indonesian hosts, students, land and independence hopes. A separate item reports 27 doctors' protest over Claudia Jones's imprisonment, citing a WIDF report. Indonesian women appear only in a fragm
CIA intelligence survey of the PKI's history, structure and front organisations, May 1955, before the September 1955 elections. Section III.E (report pp. 49-50) profiles Gerwani: founded 1950 as Gerwis, renamed Gerwani at the March 1954 congress, 25,000+ members, S.K. Trimurti general chairman and Umi Sardjono chairman
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
Umi Sardjono's General Report to the Third DPP Plenum, June 1956
Umi Sardjono's general report for the Gerwani DPP Executive to the 3rd DPP Plenary (16-19 June 1956), published by DPP Gerwani. Reviews the 1955 election campaign (23,480 new Gerwani workers; five Gerwani members elected, including Umi Sardjono and Salawati), marriage-law and anti-polygamy casework (86 of 115 cases res
Let Us Respect All Opinions: speeches by Teng Ying-chao, Hajrah Begum and Suharti (1956)
1956 page of speeches to the WIDF Council: Teng Ying-chao (China), Hajrah Begum (India) and Suharti, Gerwani Vice-President and MP. Suharti reports Gerwani membership grew from 281,000 to 565,147, its cooperation at the Palembang Women's Congress (March 1955), International Children's Day events, and delegations demand
1956 WIDF bulletin item on Indonesia: the Gerwani Central Council's report on cooperation with other women's organisations, overcoming mistrust, membership rising from 281,000 to 565,147, local marriage-rights actions, rural work with peasant groups, the All-Indonesia Women's Congress adopting Gerwani's proposed Charte