Elections with symbols: preparations for Indonesia's first general election
De Waarheid, 22 Jan 1955, p. 5: feature on preparations for Indonesia's first general elections, with voter registration, party symbols for illiterate voters, the PKI-and-independents list and attacks on it from Masjumi and PSI. It names independent candidates, among them Salawati (Daud), described as a guerrilla leade
PKI candidate list: Miss Maimunah, DPD Gerwani Central Sumatra (Harian Rakjat, 10 March 1955)
Harian Rakjat, 10 Mar 1955: PKI candidate list for the 1955 election with PKI and non-party candidates for Sumatra and elsewhere. No. 11 is Nn. Maimunah (PKI), state high-school teacher and member of DPD Gerwani Sumatera Tengah, Bukittinggi. Also lists trade-union, BTI and Perbum figures; the rest of the page is film a
Soviet Woman, 30 Apr 1955: 'Visit to Indonesia' (V. Mikosha and I. Sokolnikov)
Soviet Woman, 30 Apr 1955, p. 36 (fragment): 'Visit to Indonesia' by film-makers V. Mikosha and I. Sokolnikov, describing two months filming a documentary in Indonesia. Includes filming the welcome at Jakarta airfield for an Indonesian women's delegation returning from the USSR. Umi Sardjono, listed in metadata, does n
Grand PKI election campaign: Aidit speaks to 700,000 in Yogyakarta
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
Protest against beauty contest: Gerwani condemns 'Bunga Indonesia' contest
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.
Constituent Assembly Member Profile: Mrs S.D. Soesanto
Konstituante.Net member profile (transcribed) of Nj. S.D. Soesanto, PKI member no. 202 of the Constituent Assembly. Born 22 February 1914 in Yogyakarta; Taman Siswa teacher training. Taught in Yogyakarta, Godean and Kebumen, belonged to Isteri Sedar and PIA, served in Perwari Yogyakarta, headed a TNI women's inspectora
Report on a visit to Indonesia, Song Qingling (Renmin Ribao, 27 September 1956)
Renmin Ribao, 27 Sep 1956, p. 6: Song Qingling's report to the NPC Standing Committee on her ten-day visit to Indonesia (14-23 Aug 1956): Jakarta, Bogor, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Bali, with Sukarno, Hatta and overseas Chinese. She meets Kowani-led women's leaders in Jakarta (16 Aug) and answers questions on Chinese women's
Report on a visit to Indonesia, Song Qingling (Renmin Ribao, 27 September 1956)
Renmin Ribao, 27 Sep 1956, p. 6: Song Qingling's report to the NPC Standing Committee on her ten-day visit to Indonesia (14-23 Aug 1956): Jakarta, Bogor, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Bali, with Sukarno, Hatta and overseas Chinese. She meets Kowani-led women's leaders in Jakarta (16 Aug) and answers questions on Chinese women's
Woman and the Changing Marriage Pattern of Indonesia (van der Kroef, 1957)
Journal article by Justus M. van der Kroef (American Catholic Sociological Review, June 1957) on women's status and marriage in Indonesia: adat versus Islamic law, polygamy, divorce rates, colonial and revolutionary change. Surveys women's organisations (Perwari, Kowani) and notes Kowani's early left turn and WIDF cont
Accounting of inventory by Dr Hatta already handed over
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1957-04-06, p. 2): after press reports that Hatta had not accounted for the Fonds Kemerdekaan Indonesia, Hatta's secretary and fund chair Sumanang explain the fund's gold and silver jewellery was handed to the Fonds Nasional and partly used for guerrilla financing in 1948-49. Sumanang says S.K
Responsibility for the Independence Fund: not Hatta but Sumanang
Java-Bode, 6 April 1957, p. 2: statements by Hatta's secretary and Mr Sumanang clarifying that responsibility for the Fonds Kemerdekaan/Fonds Nasional jewellery lies with Sumanang, not Hatta. Sumanang says part of the gold funded guerrilla activity around Yogyakarta and suggests Mrs Trimurti, wife of Sayuti Melik, can
Accusations against Hatta refuted (Fonds Nasional)
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (8 Apr 1957, p.1): Hatta's secretary and Mr Sumanang rebut press claims that Hatta failed to account for the 'Fonds Kemerdekaan Indonesia'/'Fonds Nasional'; they describe how its gold and silver jewellery was handled during the revolution. Mrs Trimurti, wife of Sajuti Melik, is said to be ab
Responsibility for the Fonds Kemerdekaan
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 27 Apr 1957, p. 3: Hatta's secretary and Sumanang explain that the Fonds Kemerdekaan became the Fonds Nasional under Sumanang, who took responsibility for its gold and silver jewellery used for guerrilla funding in 1948-49. S.K. Trimurti is cited as able to confirm that her husband Saju
Api Kartini No. 7, Year 1, December 1959
Seventh issue of Api Kartini (Dec 1959), centred on Hari Ibu (22 December). Includes an article on the peace movement against nuclear testing, S. Djin's report on the November 1959 Latin American women's congress in Santiago, and an interview on food and clothing supply.
Kartini Day Figure: Mrs Utami Suryadarma
Api Kartini (1959-60) profile for Kartini Day of Utami Suryadarma, wife of the Air Force chief, presented as a leading woman of Indonesian women's organisations: Kowani foreign-information head, chair of the Children's Welfare Foundation, Armed Forces arts committee and an AURI wives' committee, and founder of a girls'
Commemorative Book for 30 Years of the Indonesian Women's Movement Unity, 1928-1958
430-page commemorative volume (Ministry of Information, 1959) narrating the federated Indonesian women's movement from the 1928 congress through the revolution and KWI congresses to 1958; history drawn largely from Sri Mangunsarkoro.
Chronological Survey of Women's Position in Marriage, 1959 (Kowani Legal Commission)
Pamphlet by the Legal Commission of the Kongres Wanita Indonesia (22 Dec 1959): numbered chronology of the struggle over women's position in marriage from 1928, the 1937 draft ordinance, to post-independence marriage law debates.
Birth and Growth of the Indonesian Women's Movement, Part III (Sulami, 1959)
Part III of Sulami's 1959 history: KOWANI conflicts and 1948 Solo congress, founding of Gerwis at Semarang (4 June 1950), its 1954 renaming as Gerwani, structure with six commissions, membership growth (6,000 Java 1951; 642,460 in January 1957; 700,000 at the Third Congress, Solo, Dec 1957), 1955 election results (5 MP
One OCR page (p. 17) of a US Joint Publications Research Service translation, Political Affairs in Indonesia (1960), a numbered list of names with occupations. Entry 188 is Mrs Suwarti Bintang Suradi, 'Former Member of Constituency Djakarta'; entry 189 is Mrs S.D. Susanto, same description; entry 153 is Mrs Sutinah Suk
Pravda, 2 Mar 1960: Gerwani among Indonesian mass organisations at Khrushchev's farewell
Pravda, 2 Mar 1960 (No. 62), pp. 1-3, 5 (machine-translated): coverage of the end of Khrushchev's 12-day visit to Indonesia (farewell speeches by Khrushchev and Sukarno; Calcutta stop). Pp. 2-3 report a farewell meeting on 29 Feb with delegates of mass organisations, naming 'the Indonesian women's movement (Gerwani)' a
Sovetskaya Kirgiziya, 3 Mar 1960: Khrushchev's visit to Indonesia
Sovetskaia Kirgiziia, 3 Mar 1960, p. 2: TASS coverage of Khrushchev's 12-day Indonesia visit: toasts with Sukarno, Khrushchev's farewell at Kemayoran, and crowds. On the last day Khrushchev received delegates of mass organisations including SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani; Njono spoke. No Gerwani speaker is named
Suara Tani, June 1960: Biography of Kartinah Kurdi (DPR-GR) and her article on International Children's Day
Suara Tani (BTI organ), June 1960 (vol. XI no. 6), OCR noisy. Issue marks PKI's 40th anniversary, the DPR-GR, the sharecropping law and the 5-Principles rice method. P. 3 (cont. p. 6) gives short biographies of BTI peasant representatives in the DPR-GR, including Ny. Kartinah Kurdi (Taman Siswa teacher, Yogyakarta, act
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
The Communist Party of Indonesia 1951-1961: A Decade of the Aidit Leadership (Hindley, 1961)
Donald Hindley's 1961 ANU PhD thesis on the Indonesian Communist Party under the Aidit leadership, 1951-1961, covering PKI strategy, party-building, finances, mass organisations and elections. Section 'Women' (pp. 422-448, esp. 'Gerwani', pp. 428-441) traces Gerwis from its founding on 4 June 1950 (about 500 members) t
Sukarno now supreme commander: New Guinea plans; speech at Gerwani congress
De Tijd/De Maasbode Reuter item (15 Dec 1961): Sukarno chaired the new 15-member national defence council as supreme commander to plan the "return" of West New Guinea. It notes that at the opening of the Gerwani congress he announced again he would "use armed force to liberate West Irian".
'Mobilise national unity': Sukarno at the Gerwani congress
De Waarheid, 15 Dec 1961, p. 4: report that President Sukarno addressed the Gerwani congress on Thursday, rejecting the Luns policy on West Irian, calling force 'probably the only language imperialists understand' and urging mobilisation of national unity among nationalists, religious groups and communists, before his
Sukarno now supreme commander: New Guinea plans being worked out
Nieuwe Haarlemsche Courant, 15 December 1961: Reuters report that Sukarno chaired the first meeting of a 15-member national defence council as supreme commander for the 'return' of Western New Guinea. At the opening of the Gerwani congress he again said he would use armed force to liberate West Irian.
Sukarno in threatening speech: force the only language the Dutch understand
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (15 Dec 1961): at the opening of the Gerwani congress in Jakarta, Sukarno says the Dutch understand only force, rejects 'external' self-determination for New Guinea, and urges housewives not to worry over rice and oil shortages. Also the new defence council meets under his leadership. Paper ca
ANP news report, 16 December 1961 (Indonesia: military)
ANP radio bulletin, 16 Dec 1961: a two-line fragment saying a minister spoke at a conference of the Indonesian women's organisation Gerwani about measures against the Dutch, with banners in Yogyakarta demanding Western New Guinea. Evidence of Gerwani's role in the West Irian campaign.
Tomorrow in Yogyakarta: Sukarno's 'last order' on West New Guinea
De Nieuwe Limburger, 18 Dec 1961: Foreign Minister Subandrio, speaking at a Gerwani conference, says Indonesia would have to act militarily if the Dutch grant independence to a 'Papua state'; Sukarno's 'last order' on West New Guinea is due 19 December (the Trikora). Shows Gerwani as a platform for the West Irian confr