Criticism by Indonesian parliament of the Linggadjati accord
De Noord-Ooster report (4 Mar 1947) on the Indonesian parliament's debate on the Linggadjati accord, with a delegate of "the Indonesian women's organisation" opposing talks with the Dutch, PNI criticism of the cabinet, and comment on van Mook, Sukarno and Sjahrir. The women's delegate is not named reliably; Gerwani did
Further details on new cabinet (Sjarifuddin cabinet)
Het Nieuws (Algemeen Dagblad) report (4 Jul 1947, p.1): Sukarno addressed the new Sjarifuddin cabinet, hoping for a 'policy of peace'. The cabinet has 33 ministers and vice-ministers; the minister of labour, Miss Trimurti, is the only woman member. Notes Wondoamiseno's appointment and Sultan of Yogyakarta's retention.
Cabinet complete (Sjarifuddin cabinet, July 1947)
Het Parool (4 Jul 1947, p.17): complete list of the new republican cabinet under Amir Sjarifuddin, including Trimoerti as minister of labour, Wikana for youth, Wondoamiseno for the interior after being released over Sjahrir's abduction. Notes Dr Boediardjo's resignation and Sukarno's swearing-in speech hoping for a pol
First anniversary of SOBSI
Short Het Dagblad (Batavia) item (2 Dec 1947, p.2) on the first anniversary of SOBSI, attended by President Sukarno, premier Amir Sjarifuddin and labour minister Mrs S.K. Trimurti. Sukarno's message said workers have a strong ideology and must avoid anarchy and capitalism. Context on Trimurti's labour role; no Gerwani
Musso on the coup in the republic
Bredasche Courant, 21 Sept 1948: Madiun-affair report quoting Musso's radio speech that the revolution is under national-communist leadership, claiming 20 million Indonesian women were widowed by romusha labour and calling Sukarno and Hatta servants of Japan and America. Also reports refugees fleeing to Dutch lines. Ge
Sukarno and Hatta servants of Japan and America (Musso on Radio Gelora Pemuda)
Het Dagblad (Batavia) item (22 Sep 1948, p.2) quoting Musso's radio speech from communist-held 'Radio Gelora Pemuda' after the Madiun coup: the revolution is under national-communist leadership against imperialism, Sukarno and Hatta are called 'servants of Japan and America', and he says more than twenty million Indone
The arrests in Indonesia: PKI calls for struggle against fascism
De Waarheid, 31 Aug 1951, p. 3: near-verbatim PKI Central Committee statement on the Sukiman government's August 1951 mass arrests, calling them a drift to fascism and a staged 'coup' pretext. It lists Gerwis among organisations whose members were arrested or searched, demands release of all detainees and urges an anti
Indonesian cabinet crisis continues; Gerwis appeals after Sukiman's fall
De Waarheid, 18 Mar 1952, p. 2: news item on the Indonesian cabinet crisis after the fall of the Sukiman government over the US Mutual Security agreement signed by Subardjo. Notes that calls for an anti-fascist, anti-imperialist government reached Jakarta from the Gerwis national board, SOBSI and the peasants' union RT
The programme: Quirino's visit; token of appreciation to Mrs Salawati
De Nieuwsgier, 17 July 1952: programme of Philippine President Quirino's ten-day Indonesia visit, plus a separate note that Mrs Salawati (presumably Salawati Daud) was given a moped by the head of the Celebes provincial security staff in appreciation of 'special merits in the effort to restore calm and order'.
New demonstrations in prospect: open letter to Sukarno after Bandung rally
De Nieuwsgier, 17 July 1953 (PIA): a delegation from the PPDI, Partai Buruh, PNI, PKI, PRIM, Gerwis and Permai, whose parties held a large Bandung demonstration, presents Sukarno with an open letter asking him to decree Darul Islam and other bands terrorists to be exterminated. Sukarno agrees personally but says cabine
Salatiga: national action committee formed
De Locomotief, 29 July 1953: Salatiga branches of SOBSI, BTI, PPDI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwis jointly convene a meeting of 35 organisations and parties, which forms a national action committee and decides to send an open letter to Sukarno urging implementation of parliament's decisions and action against Darul Islam and
Sukarno urges communist to support transfer of New Guinea; Mrs Lips-Odinot, interpreter of 'peaceful' Netherlands
Algemeen Handelsblad (1954-04-05): President Sukarno received participants of the Gerwani congress; Dutch communist MP Rie Lips-Odinot conveyed the sympathy of the 'peace-loving part of the Dutch people'. Sukarno replied that good relations require return of New Guinea, and she endorsed Indonesia's claim. The paper cal
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
The Irian question
Java-Bode, 5 April 1954, p. 2: Rie Lips Odinot, a Gerwis congress guest, conveys Dutch peace-lovers' sympathy to Sukarno, who replies that good Dutch-Indonesian relations are impossible until West Irian is returned to Indonesia, calling it the greatest political barrier.
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
Sukarno's second marriage
Dutch newspaper roundup (1954-09-21, p. 9) of Indonesian press reactions to President Sukarno's second marriage (to Mrs. Soewondo), called a serious blow to the women's movement. A delegation of women led by Perwari chair Mrs. Kortowijono visited the palace. Press is split; Indonesia Raya stresses women's long fight ov
Parliament on Sukarno's second marriage
Het Parool report (6 Oct 1954, p.108): parliament asks the government to clarify its stand on President Sukarno's second marriage, as the controversy causes the first rift in the year-old PNI-PKI coalition. A woman MP of the socialist fraction submitted the request, and parliament received a petition from women's movem
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
Ten years of the Republic (Cor Geugjes)
De Waarheid, 17 Aug 1955, p. 3: Cor Geugjes's article for the Republic's tenth anniversary, covering Dutch colonial violence, the Bandung Conference, the Ali Sastroamidjojo government's fall and replacement by a Masjumi-PSI cabinet under Harahap, and the PKI's election platform. It lists Gerwani only as 'the strong wom
News in brief
Dutch newspaper column of brief news (1955-09-22, p. 2); only the final item concerns Indonesia: per the daily Pedoman, women leaders will ask PM Harahap to keep Sukarno's second wife out of the Bogor palace, claiming he broke a promise. Text breaks off. Other items are unrelated. Gerwani not named.
Events in Indonesia (conclusion): Harahap government and mass organisations
De Waarheid, 8 Oct 1955, p. 3: final part of Cor Geugjes's series on events in Indonesia, arguing the Harahap government (which replaced Ali Sastroamidjojo) is resisted: elections could not be postponed, New Guinea was raised at the UN, and preliminary results defeat Masjumi and PSI. Cites PKI (500,000), SOBSI (3 milli
P.N.I. (analysis of the 1955 election result)
Het Parool column 'P.N.I.' (11 Nov 1955) analysing the 1955 Indonesian election result: the PNI did well despite corruption; Sukarno's second marriage (Hartini) had been thought to hurt him as it moved many prominent Indonesian women to militant counter-action, but the fight against polygamy was a concern of a handful
First Lady
Short Algemeen Indisch Dagblad item 'First Lady' (1955-12-31, p. 1): Perwari chair Mrs. Kartowijono says any socially acceptable woman can be First Lady and urges a marriage law quickly. Muslimat (Masyumi) and Gerwani are still deliberating on the question and could not yet comment, in the context of the Sukarno marria
Gerwani and Mrs Fatmawati: statement on a private divorce matter
De Nieuwsgier item (5 Jan 1956) on a Gerwani statement about Fatmawati Sukarno's divorce request: Gerwani calls it a private matter, defends free democratic marriage, regrets that certain parties exploited it to undermine national unity and the president's name, and uses it to demand a democratic marriage law.
America offers Jakarta economic aid - Dulles in Indonesia
Arnhemsche Courant, 13 Mar 1956 (UP-Reuters): John Foster Dulles visits Sukarno in Jakarta and informally offers economic aid. A young woman of Gerwani among about two dozen protesters shouting 'Abolish SEATO' threw a piece of paper at his car and was detained for questioning.
'One-man factions' in parliament disappointed
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad political roundup (1957-03-02, p. 2) on Sukarno's 'conception' of gotong-royong cabinet: one-man MP factions complain of exclusion, Nasution meets Sukarno, PNI Surabaya rallies, Natsir attacks the plan. An 'Adhesion' item says declarations of support came from the youth council DPI, Gerwani Ban
'The fathers are not pure': Mrs Fatmawati Sukarno: 'Let me form a cabinet'
Dagblad voor Noord-Limburg, 30 Mar 1957: Fatmawati, Sukarno's first wife, who left the palace after his 1954 marriage to Hartini 'to the great indignation of the Indonesian women's organisation', proposes in an open letter that a non-party woman form the new cabinet ('the fathers are not pure'). Page also covers anti-c
45 members in total: National Council definitively formed by president and cabinet
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1957-06-15, p. 1): announcement of the 45-member National Council (Dewan Nasional) under Sukarno, with Roeslan Abdulgani as vice-chair and secretary-general. Functional-group seats include workers (SOBSI's Munir), youth (Sujono Atmo, PKI) and women's organisations: Mrs. S.K. Trimurti and Mrs.
Composition of national council completed (Sukarno chair)
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (15 Jun 1957, p.1): the 45-member National Council is announced, chaired by Sukarno with Roeslan Abdulgani as vice-chair. Members include Munir (SOBSI workers), Sardjono (peasants), Henk Ngantung (artists), and S.K. Trimurti and Rasuna Said for the women's movements; Mrs Towoliu represents C
Installation and swearing-in of National Council does not undermine authority of cabinet and parliament
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1957-07-13, p. 1): Sukarno installs the 45-member National Council (Dewan Nasional) at the Istana Negara, swearing in 32 members, and stresses it does not undermine cabinet or parliament but assists, lends authority and bridges society and government. The full list names S.K. Trimurti and Rasu