Born to a family of Javanese aristocrats in 1879, R.A. Kartini came into the world straddling two cultures. She had a deep affinity for her family and traditional Javanese customs, but was profoundly influenced by her brushes with progressive Dutch ideas and Western literature. Like all girls of noble birth in Java at the time, Kartini was removed from school at the age of twelve, but continued to devour books and cultivate her views on the position of women in society and the Javanese people under Dutch rule.
Kartini dreamed of opening a school for Javanese girls, and had nearly seen her plans come to life when she died giving birth at the age of twenty five. Despite her untimely passing, Kartini’s legacy would persist. She loved to write letters, and had made several important acquaintances through the mail. One of them, a Dutch politician named J.H. Abendanon, took an interest in Kartini and used her story to shine a light on Dutch policies in Java. He published a collection of her letters posthumously in Holland, where they circulated widely and helped direct society’s attention to the injustices of the colonial system in Southeast Asia. To this day, several schools bear her name.
Today’s homepage by Helene Leroux marks what would have been Kartini’s 137th birthday.