Monica Felton (WIDF Vice-President) writes in 1954 on the Second Congress of Gerwani, which she attended: 349 delegates, 80,000 members, a meeting with President Sukarno, resolutions on West Irian, the 1955 elections, a nationwide marriage law, democratic rights and support for the government against armed gangs. She s
WIDF 1954 profile of Miss Darmini of GERWIS, reporting to a WIDF meeting. Membership rose from 6,000 at the 1951 first congress to 37,000 by 1953 and about 600,000 prior to the March 1954 second congress (as printed); the Union of Railway Workers' Wives affiliated. She describes campaigns on women's rights, maternity l
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.
Tribune (Sydney), 12 May 1954, p. 11: Allison Dickie, Union of Australian Women delegate, reports on the 1954 Indonesian women's congress. She describes Gerwis, the league of women 'more politically awake', whose work helped hundreds of thousands become literate and from which Gerwani developed; the six-day Gerwani Nat
Tribune (Sydney), 12 May 1954, p. 11: Allison Dickie, Union of Australian Women delegate, reports on the 1954 Indonesian women's congress. She describes Gerwis, the league of women 'more politically awake', whose work helped hundreds of thousands become literate and from which Gerwani developed; the six-day Gerwani Nat
De Waarheid, 12 May 1954, p. 5: opening of an interview with Rie Lips, vice-chair of the NVB, back from six weeks on Java after the Gerwis/Gerwani congress. She rejects stereotypes of Indonesians as lazy, dirty or stupid, citing women who work in factories or walk hours to attend meetings of the women's movement, 'the
De Waarheid, 6 Aug 1954, p. 3: report of congratulatory telegrams from Indonesia on Piet van Staveren's release from Dutch prison, including from SOBSI, SBPP, Pemuda Rakjat (200,000 members), Sarbupri and the World Federation of Trade Unions. A telegram signed GERWANI, from 'Indonesian women and mothers', thanks him fo
De Waarheid, 8 Sep 1954, p. 5: report on an Indonesian women's delegation passing through Amsterdam after five weeks in the USSR (three in Moscow). Members came from different organisations: Masjumi Islamic women (Samsudin), PM Ali Sastroamidjojo's sister, Partai Buruh, a ministry official, students, Wanita Taman Siswa
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
Znamia, 31 Oct 1954, p. 124: opening of Yekaterina Shevelyova's travel essay 'On the Island of Java'. She says a Soviet Anti-Fascist Women's Committee delegation, invited by Gerwani, spent almost a month in Java, then summarises Dutch colonialism, the 1949 Round Table settlement, and the 1954 dissolution of the Dutch-I
WIDF commemorative booklet (Berlin, 1955) for its tenth anniversary: history from the 1945 Paris founding congress, peace and anti-atom campaigns, the 1953 Copenhagen Congress, children's work, the 1955 Lausanne World Congress of Mothers. Page 28 states that in Indonesia 'the women's organization which had 6,000 member
Simone Bertrand, WIDF Assistant General Secretary, reports in 1955 on the Fifth WIDF Council meeting in Geneva (45 countries). She cites GERWANI as a remarkable example: mostly peasant and plantation women, membership up from 80,000 to 281,000 in a year, and with nine organisations it formed a committee opposing a US b
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
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
Keyword-hit excerpt of Pravda, 4 July 1955, from the article on preparing the World Congress of Mothers (Lausanne). Records that WIDF organisations established cooperation in Indonesia with 'the numerous women's organization Gerwani' and the plantation workers' union, alongside links in Australia, New Zealand, Norway,
Pravda, 5 August 1955, No. 217, page 6, supplied as a Claude machine translation of the Indonesia item. A TASS dispatch from Jakarta on the cabinet crisis (Harahap of Masjumi asked to form a government) says Harian Rakjat printed dozens of telegrams from SOBSI, BTI, the women's organisation Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat in
De Waarheid, 12 Dec 1955, p. 3: report on the NVB's festive evening in Amsterdam for the WIDF's tenth anniversary, with a speech by Betty Zeehandelaar on equal pay and women's rights, a Belgian greeting, and a Scapino ballet programme. At the close, letters were sent to the WIDF and to Gerwani asserting Indonesia's rig
Pravda, No. 59, 1956 (c. 28 Feb), p. 3: Jakarta dispatch 'The working people of Indonesia speak' among foreign responses to the 20th CPSU Congress. SOBSI leaders (Sumandi, Sudoyo, Sudadi) praise the Congress; Gerwani leader Suharti says she followed it via newspapers and Moscow radio in Indonesian and is 'amazed' at So
Keyword-hit excerpt of Pravda, No. 59, 1956 (Jakarta dispatch of 27 Feb) on Indonesian reactions to the 20th CPSU Congress: SOBSI Jakarta secretary Sudadi and Suharti, 'leader of the women's organization Gerwani', who says she followed the Congress and admires Soviet progress toward communism. Followed by an unrelated
Xinhua note in Renmin Ribao, 8 Mar 1956 (p. 4): the All-China Democratic Women's Federation sent International Women's Day telegrams to women's bodies in India, Burma, Pakistan, Egypt and Japan and, in Indonesia, to Gerwani, to Kowani (the Indonesian Women's Congress) and to the Indonesian Women's 8 March Commemoration
Xinhua note in Renmin Ribao, 8 Mar 1956 (p. 4): the All-China Democratic Women's Federation sent International Women's Day telegrams to women's bodies in India, Burma, Pakistan, Egypt and Japan and, in Indonesia, to Gerwani, to Kowani (the Indonesian Women's Congress) and to the Indonesian Women's 8 March Commemoration
Two Xinhua dispatches from Jakarta in Renmin Ribao, 13 Mar 1956 (p. 4). First: US Secretary of State Dulles was met at the airport on 12 March by demonstrators shouting against SEATO, and a girl was arrested for sticking a slogan on his car. Second: Gerwani issued a statement on 11 March condemning the visit as an atte
Two Xinhua dispatches from Jakarta in Renmin Ribao, 13 Mar 1956 (p. 4). First: US Secretary of State Dulles was met at the airport on 12 March by demonstrators shouting against SEATO, and a girl was arrested for sticking a slogan on his car. Second: Gerwani issued a statement on 11 March condemning the visit as an atte
De Waarheid, 23 Mar 1956, p. 2: Moscow dispatch that the PKI has one million members, per Aidit in an interview with the Soviet magazine Ogonyok; SOBSI has 2.6 million, the peasant union BTI 2.5 million, Pemuda Rakjat 700,000 and Gerwani about 500,000. Useful as a contemporary membership figure for Gerwani.
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao, 26 Apr 1956 (p. 1), on day two of the WIDF Council meeting in Beijing, with speeches from Indian, German, Malagasy, Argentine, Soviet, Tunisian and British delegates. Suharti, WIDF Council member and vice-chairman of Gerwani, says Indonesian women's organisations are growing, oppose US ef
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao, 26 Apr 1956 (p. 1), on day two of the WIDF Council meeting in Beijing, with speeches from Indian, German, Malagasy, Argentine, Soviet, Tunisian and British delegates. Suharti, WIDF Council member and vice-chairman of Gerwani, says Indonesian women's organisations are growing, oppose US ef
Renmin Ribao, 7 May 1956, p. 5: abridged speeches (part 1) at the WIDF Council meeting in Beijing. Includes a short statement by Mrs Suharti for Gerwani, welcoming the Bandung resolutions, reporting that Gerwani set up the national preparatory committee and delegation for the Lausanne World Assembly of Mothers, and not
Renmin Ribao, 7 May 1956, p. 5: abridged speeches (part 1) at the WIDF Council meeting in Beijing. Includes a short statement by Mrs Suharti for Gerwani, welcoming the Bandung resolutions, reporting that Gerwani set up the national preparatory committee and delegation for the Lausanne World Assembly of Mothers, and not
Berliner Zeitung, 27 May 1956, p. 6: women's column item "Im Juni wird in Budapest ..." ahead of the World Congress of Working Women. One short paragraph reports that the Indonesian women's organisation GERWANI demands a ban on child marriage, forced marriage and bride-purchase, an end to the ban on widows remarrying,
Gudok (Soviet railwaymen's paper), 17 Aug 1956, p. 4. Survey article by G. Svetlanov for the Republic's 11th anniversary: Dutch colonial legacy, nationalisations, five-year plan, foreign policy and Sukarno's coming visit. One passage lists Gerwani, 'half a million members', among leading patriotic mass organisations be