Great success in Paris for Indonesians at WIDF exhibition events
De Waarheid report (24 Jul 1948) on a Perhimpunan Indonesia group of Indonesian workers and students performing dances and songs in Paris and Saint-Denis at WIDF invitation during its women's exhibition. An Indonesian woman greeted French women; the piece notes Kowani is a WIDF member. No Gerwis/Gerwani and no named In
President and government at women's congress in Budapest (WIDF second congress opens)
Short De Waarheid report (3 Dec 1948) on the opening of the second WIDF congress in Budapest, attended by President Szakasits and the Hungarian government. Chinese and Soviet women were cheered; delegates from Vietnam were denied visas and women from Indonesia, Iran and Argentina were still awaited.
Women, demonstrate on Tuesday for peace: International Women's Day call 1949
De Waarheid call (5 Mar 1949) for Dutch women to demonstrate on International Women's Day for peace: against the colonial war in Indonesia, the Marshall Plan and Atlantic Pact, for troop withdrawal and equal pay, with Soviet women held up as models and WIDF president Cotton quoted. Concerns Dutch communist women; no In
Potentials of World Communism: Women's International Democratic Federation (OIR report, 1949)
OSS/State Department intelligence report (1 Aug 1949) on the Women's International Democratic Federation as a communist front: origins in the Soviet Anti-Fascist Committee of Women, 1945 Paris founding, leaders (Cotton, Popova, Ibarruri, Cai Chang), membership claims and Asia activities. Indonesia is mentioned only in
Our Strength: column on the WIDF Council in Moscow
De Waarheid column "Our Strength" by L.B. (25 Nov 1949) on the WIDF Council meeting in Moscow (15-20 Nov) and the 1948 Budapest congress, reflecting on women's unity and the daily struggle of a Dutch communist housewife. Indonesia appears only in a list of women's liberation struggles.
Literaturnaia Gazeta, 10 Jun 1952: World Peace Council Bureau statement (Suwarti signs)
Front page of Literaturnaia Gazeta, 10 June 1952, carrying a World Peace Council Bureau statement defending the French peace movement. Signatories include 'Mrs. Suwarti (Indonesia), member of parliament' (Gerwis/Gerwani leader Suwarti), alongside Joliot-Curie, Eugenie Cotton (WIDF), Brecht and Neruda. Also notes the Pe
Pravda, 22 Jul 1952: WIDF executive committee session, Bucharest
Pravda p. 3, 22 July 1952: TASS reports from the 13th session of the WIDF executive committee in Bucharest and a mass women's meeting addressed by Eugenie Cotton. Darmini (Indonesia) is listed among debaters on Carmen Santi's report on child defence; national committees reportedly formed in Indonesia. Content of Darmin
The Third World Women's Congress: 1,700 delegates from over 80 countries in Copenhagen
De Waarheid, 10 Jun 1953, p. 5: air-mail report from Copenhagen on the Third World Congress of Women (WIDF): 1,700 delegates from over 80 countries, opened by Eugenie Cotton, with speeches by Chinese and Soviet delegates and a Dutch delegate. Delegates from Korea, Malaya and Vietnam were refused entry. Indonesian deleg
Neues Deutschland, 7 Jul 1955, p. 5: Peace and happiness for the children of all mothers
Neues Deutschland, 7 July 1955, p. 5: article 'Frieden und Glück für die Kinder aller Mütter' (signed E. T.) on the opening of the World Congress of Mothers in Lausanne. Indonesia appears only once, in a list of countries where preparatory committees were formed. No Indonesian women, Gerwani or other named Indonesians
Neues Deutschland, 25 Jun 1957, p. 5: Women prepare the World Congress
Neues Deutschland, 25 June 1957, p. 5: ADN/ND report 'Frauen bereiten Weltkongreß vor' on the WIDF council session in Helsinki (270 delegates, 46 countries; president Eugénie Cotton). Indonesia appears once: women from Indonesia and other countries reported on their work, difficulties and successes. No name is given an
The World's Women's Contribution to Their Era (Sulami)
Article by Sulami (1959) reporting on the WIDF Bureau meeting in Prague, chaired by Eugenie Cotton, and the Council with 51 countries. It stresses women's duty to protect children, supports disarmament and Soviet-US talks, backs the 50th anniversary of International Women's Day, and links peace to Indonesian national i
WIDF at 15: Fighting for Family Happiness and World Peace
Api Kartini article (1960) by Maasje Siwi, an Api Kartini staff member who attended the WIDF Council in Warsaw (29 Nov-5 Dec 1960), marking the WIDF's 15th anniversary. Delegates from 61 countries heard Eugenie Cotton review WIDF history (1948 manifesto, 1953 Copenhagen congress, 1955 Lausanne mothers' congress, 1958 V
Tolna Megyei Népújság, 6 Oct 1961: WIDF Council session in Budapest (Mrs Mudigdio)
Hungarian provincial daily Tolna Megyei Népújság, 6 Oct 1961, reporting the WIDF Council session in Budapest. Mrs Mudigdio, chair of Gerwani, is quoted saying that the liberation of oppressed Asian and African peoples is hindered by the same forces opposing a German peace treaty. Other delegates (Kushida, Cotton, Popov
Pravda, 1 Jul 1963: WIDF programme, Moscow World Congress of Women
Pravda no. 182, 1 July 1963 (full issue). Page 4 prints the WIDF programme adopted at its Moscow congress (29 June 1963): equal rights, peasant women, children, peace, national independence, solidarity with persecuted women. It lists the new Bureau, which includes Umi Sardjono (Indonesia, spelled 'Umisa Sardjono'). Eug
The Struggle between Two Lines at the Moscow World Congress of Women (Peking, 1963)
Chinese-published pamphlet (Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 1963) with statements and a report by Yang Yun-yu attacking Soviet and WIDF leaders at the June 1963 Moscow World Congress of Women over anti-imperialism versus disarmament and peaceful coexistence. It records the Indonesian delegation, led by Umi Sardjono, s
World Congress of Women, Moscow, June 1963
WIDF publication on the World Congress of Women, Moscow, 24-29 June 1963 (1,543 women, 113 countries): reports, speeches, resolutions and the new WIDF council list. Gerwani is mentioned briefly: its roughly 1,000 day nurseries for working mothers are cited as a model; its role in the West Irian campaign is praised; and
JPRS 1963: Parjani Pradono criticises the WIDF programme (Moscow World Congress of Women)
Page from a US JPRS volume (Translations on the People's Republic of China, Oct-Nov 1963) summarising Chinese press reports on the June 1963 WIDF World Congress of Women in Moscow. Indonesian women's leader Parjani Pradono is quoted calling the WIDF programme 'devoid of revolutionary essence' and describing the Indones
Moscow News, 29 Jun 1963: WIDF World Congress of Women, Moscow
Moscow News (English), 29 June 1963, p. 6: report on the WIDF World Congress of Women in Moscow (June 1963), with abridged report by President Eugenie Cotton and sessions on peace, colonialism, children's welfare and women's rights. Umi Sardjono (Indonesia), WIDF Vice-President and Gerwani chair, read greetings from J.
Soviet Woman, 31 Jul 1963: WIDF programme and elected leaders (Moscow Congress)
Soviet Woman, 31 Jul 1963, p. 44: WIDF programme adopted at its 1963 Moscow World Congress of Women, with an issue preview and the list of elected leaders. Eugenie Cotton re-elected president. Umi Sardjono (Indonesia) is named among Bureau members, with Freda Brown (Australia), Vilma Espin and others.
Soviet Woman, 30 Sep 1963: 'A German Peace Treaty' and delegates' reports on the World Congress of Women
Soviet Woman, 30 Sep 1963, pp. 6-8: delegates' reports on the June 1963 World Congress of Women in Moscow: Fuki Kushida (Japan) on Tereshkova and the congress, Lotte Ulbricht (GDR) on a German peace treaty, Gondo Kikue on 'stitches for peace' banners, and Thamina Salam Adel's testimony on Ba'ath terror in Iraq. Umi Sar
Short FBIS item from TASS (8 Jun 1964): the Liaison Bureau Presidium set up at the 1960 Copenhagen women's meeting opened in Moscow (8-12 June) with Eugenie Cotton (WIDF), Popova (Soviet women's committee), and Hurustiati Subandrio, chairman of the Indonesian women's congress (Kowani), among others. Context for Indones
Sovetskaya Kirgiziya, 16 Mar 1965: world protest over the Vietnam war (Gerwani statement)
Sovetskaia Kirgiziia, 16 Mar 1965, p. 3: page of TASS items on Vietnam war protests. Quotes a Gerwani statement, said to speak for over 2 million members, condemning US bombing of the DRV as 'a crime against humanity'. Also reports Indonesia withdrawing from the New York World's Fair over US support for Malaysia. Other
Women of the Whole World, May 1965: 20th anniversary of victory over fascism
Full May 1965 issue of Women of the Whole World (WIDF), a commemorative number for the 20th anniversary of victory over Nazism: women in the resistance, wartime memoirs and Sholokhov's story, Coventry, Leningrad, Warsaw, Lidice-type massacres, Dresden and Hiroshima, plus peace, Vietnam and anticolonial pieces. Indonesi
Neue Zeit, 27 Nov 1965, p. 4: Strength lies in unity: twenty years of the Women's International Democratic Federation
Neue Zeit, 27 November 1965, p. 4 (women's page): 'Die Kraft liegt in der Einigkeit', a history of 20 years of the WIDF (IDFF). Indonesia appears once, in a list of imperialist armed aggressions (Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaya, Korea) against which the WIDF organised protests. The article also stresses the DFD's role and I
7th WIDF Congress, International Women's Year, Berlin 1975
Published proceedings of the 7th Congress of the Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF), Berlin, 26 October 1975: opening and general-secretary addresses (Aruna Asaf Ali, Fanny Edelman), the report on WIDF work since the 1969 Helsinki congress, finance and credentials reports, the Prospective Plan to 1980 a
Hopes for a better world: the early years of the WIDF 1945-1950 (de Haan, 2009)
Francisca de Haan's article (German, Feministische Studien 2009) on the WIDF's early years 1945-50: founding congress in Paris, leaders Cotton, Ibarruri and Popova, and the destruction of the US affiliate by HUAC. Background on the federation Gerwani later joined.
The WIDF: History, Main Agenda, and Contributions, 1945-1991 (de Haan, c.2012)
Overview essay by Francisca de Haan (Women and Social Movements International database, c. 2012) on WIDF's origins, agenda, UN role and Cold War marginalisation, 1945-1991. Gerwani is listed once as a large, influential WIDF member organisation (with footnotes to Wieringa and to McGregor on Indonesian women and WIDF);