This figure, known as a heroine of women's emancipation, was born in Mayong, Jepara on Monday Pahing, April 21, 1879. She was the 4th of 8 children of the couple R.M.A.A. Sosroningrat and M.A. Ngasirah Sosronegoro (garwa ampil). R.A. Kartini's grandfather was Prince Ario Tjondronegoro IV, someone she admired as a figure who tried to break out of the old feudalistic tradition. Meanwhile, her mother was an ordinary woman, but descended from a family of prominent clerics who obeyed Islamic law (Gustami, 2000: 109-110). Therefore, it is clear that R.A. Kartini's attitude of being passionate about progress was inherited from her father, while R.A. Kartini's love for Islam was shaped by her mother. When R.A. Kartini was born, her father served as Wedana Mayong. However, in early 1881, when R.A. Kartini was 2 years old, R.M.A.A. Sosroningrat was appointed as Regent of Jepara (Taylor, 1976: 634). After that, they moved from Mayong to the Regent's Official Residence in Jepara. The idea of progress owned by R.A. Kartini must have been inherited from her father. R.M.A.A. Sosroningrat was one of four Regents in Java who had the ability to write and speak in Dutch (Pane, 2021: 3).
Figure 5. The birthplace of R.A Kartini in the Ari-Ari Kartini Museum complex, Mayong, Jepara (Source: Research Team Documentation, 2024)
Figure 6. Ari-ari R.A Kartini in the Ari-Ari Kartini Museum complex, Mayong, Jepara
(Source: Research Team Documentation, 2024)
Figure 7. Pendopo of Jepara Regency
(Source: Research Team Documentation, 2024)
R.A. Kartini was raised in an environment that was familiar with Dutch language and culture. Therefore, her father allowed Kartini to enter a Dutch elementary school, ELS (Soebadio and Sadli, 1990: 22). After completing her education at ELS, R.A. Kartini could not continue her education to the next level. However, thanks to the help of Dutch officials who were close to her father, she and her sisters had the opportunity to continue their studies at home. In addition, the intensity of R.A. Kartini's communication with her father's Dutch friends has also improved R.A. Kartini's ability to speak Dutch. One of them was Henri Hubert Van Kol and his wife, who also tried to help R.A. Kartini get a scholarship in the Netherlands. In addition, Henri Hubert Van Kol's wife, Nellie Van Kol, who was a famous novelist, seemed to have attracted R.A. Kartini (Soebadio and Sadli, 1990: 23-24).
Figure 8. R.A. Kartini as a child with her older and younger siblings: (top from left to right: Kartini, Soelastri, Roekmini, and Kardinah; (bottom from left to right: Kartinah and Rawito) (Source: “Kartini als kind met broertje en zusjes,” KITLV 503182).
Figure 9. R.A. Kartini with her father and three siblings: (From left to right: Soemantri, Roekmini, R.M.A.A. Sosroningrat, Kartini, and Kartinah) (Source: “Kartini met haar vader en drie zussen,” KITLV 503281).
R.A. Kartini also tried to apply for a scholarship to study in the Netherlands and Batavia, but failed. The failure did not seem to be caused by academic factors, but rather by the feudalistic Javanese customary rules, which imposed restrictions on women, namely seclusion (Gustami, 2000: 108). At the age of 12, when R.A. Kartini entered her seclusion period, she had to separate from the outside world and was confined by the regency walls. This condition had made R.A. Kartini sad (Priyanto, 2017: 59).
Nevertheless, her enthusiasm for learning did not stop. She tried to increase her knowledge without going to school by diligently reading anything she got from her brother, R.M. Sosrokartono and her father, R.M.A.A. Sosroningrat. Her father did not limit the types of reading material chosen by his children, including magazines and articles. This caused R.A. Kartini and her siblings to gain quite extensive access to see cultural developments outside the duchy, including the struggles of Indian women. From there, it seems that her awareness of the struggle of women did not only belong to Javanese women emerged (Soebadio and Sadli, 1990: 26). This awareness also seems to have driven her, together with her two sisters, Kardinah and Roekmini, to establish the First School for indigenous aristocratic girls located in the back porch of the Pendopo of Jepara Regency. The idea was also realized with the help of Jacques Henrij Abendanon (Minister of Education, Religion, and Industry of the Dutch East Indies), Henri Hubert Van Kol (the first Socialist figure to set foot in the Dutch East Indies), and friends of R.A. Kartini from the Netherlands (Gustami, 2000: 108).
Figure 10. Kardinah, Kartini, and Roekmini, probably in Semarang
(Source: “Kardinah, Kartini and Roekmini, vermoedelijk te Semarang,” KITLV 15465)
Figure 11. The back terrace of the Jepara Regency hall which is currently part of the Jepara Regent's Official Residence (Source: Research Team Documentation, 2024)
Despite living in an old Javanese tradition, R.A. Kartini was a Javanese woman who had progressive views. She was very productive in expressing her ideas and thoughts in various fields, including social, political, economic, artistic, cultural, and religious. R.A. Kartini's thoughts were communicated to Mrs. Abendanon, a Dutch woman who was recognized by R.A. Kartini as her adoptive mother, and to her fellow Dutch people (Gustami, 2000: 107). One of her views was her disagreement with the concept that a woman is merely a complement to a man (Gustami, 2000: 110). The idea of progress of R.A. Kartini can be traced from her collection of letters which were later printed into a book entitled "Door Duisternis Tot Licht" (After Darkness Comes Light) (Kartini, 2021). In addition to the idea of women's progress, the book clearly shows R.A. Kartini's attitude towards Islam. R.A. Kartini wrote that she did not understand Islam, because the Qur'an as a holy book uses Arabic, a language she did not master.
At a religious study event at the house of the Regent of Demak P.A. Adiningrat, who was also R.A. Kartini's uncle, R.A. Kartini met Kiai Saleh Darat. At that time, Kiai Saleh Darat gave a lecture on the interpretation of Al-Fatihah. Kartini was amazed by the study delivered by Kiai Saleh Darat, because so far, she had only been able to recite Al-Fatihah, without ever knowing the meaning of the verses. After the study, R.A. Kartini urged her uncle to accompany her to meet Kiai Saleh Darat. He expressed his thoughts about the importance of translating and interpreting the Koran into Javanese so that it can be understood and used as a guide. This revived Kiai Saleh Darat's consciousness to compose a work of interpretation of the Koran entitled Faidh al-Rahman in 1894. This interpretation was the first interpretation in the archipelago in Javanese with Arabic script. The first volume consists of 13 juz, starting from Surah Al-Fatihah to Surah Ibrahim. He gave the book to R.A. Kartini as a wedding gift to R.M.A.A. Djojoadiningrat, Regent of Rembang. Through this book, R.A. Kartini studied Islam in its true sense. R.A. Kartini really liked the gift and said: "All this time Al-Fatihah has been dark for me. I don't understand the slightest meaning. But since today it has become clearer to its implied meaning, because Father Kiai has explained it in Javanese that I understand." Through this book, R.A. Kartini found a verse that deeply touched her conscience, namely Surah Al-Baqarah verse 257 which states that Allah is the one who has guided the believers from darkness to light (Min al-Dhulum?t ila al-N?r) (Hakim, 170-183; Anonymous, 2016; Encyclopedia Nahdlatul Ulama, volume IV, t.t.t.: 76-77). The Faidh al-Rahman manuscript by Kiai Saleh Darat which was a wedding gift for R.A. Kartini, is currently one of the collections of the R.A. Kartini Museum in Rembang.
Figure 12. Manuscript of the Book of Faidh al-Rahman by Kiai Saleh Darat, a wedding gift from the teacher and author to R.A. Kartini. The manuscript is part of the collection of the R.A. Kartini Museum in Rembang (Source: Research Team Documentation, 2024)
R.A. Kartini also paid attention to Javanese traditions and culture. She is said to have been involved in developing the arts of batik, weaving, jewelry, gamelan, painting or drawing, wayang art, and wood carving. Wayang, which was a means of preaching in early Islam, also inspired R.A. Kartini to create carved furniture ornaments (Gustami, 2000: 111-112). R.A. Kartini was the first person to create new designs for carving art using wayang ornaments. With support from the Oost en West association, R.A. Kartini took the initiative to call Singowiryo, the most famous carver at that time from the village behind the Mountain to lead the craftsmen (Gustami, 2000: 114). Through the Oost en West network, R.A. Kartini also contacted buyers in big cities, both Semarang and Batavia, as an effort to market the products of the carvers in Jepara (Gustami, 2000: 115). In Jepara, the history of R.A. Kartini and her life are immortalized in a Museum R.A. Kartini Jepara (Museum R.A. Kartini Jepara (Booklet) and Research Team Observations, 2024).
Figure 13. Kartini's painting of a swan, most likely in Jepara
(Source: "Schilderij met zwanen vervaardigd door Kartini, vermoedelijk te Djapara," KITLV 12542)
Figure 14. Jepara Batik, possibly made by R.A. Kartini
(Source: “Batik uit Djapara, vermoedelijk vervaardigd door Kartini,” KITLV 12541)
Figure 15. Gate of the R.A. Kartini Museum in Jepara
(Source: Research Team Documentation, 2024).
On November 12, 1903, when she was 24 years old, R.A. Kartini married the Regent of Rembang named R.M.A.A. Djojoadiningrat who was already known as a Regent with progressive views. After that, she followed her husband to move to Rembang. On September 13, 1904, Raden Ajeng who had changed into Raden Ayu (R. Ay.) Kartini gave birth to a baby boy named Singgih or R.M. Soesalit Djojoadiningrat. However, R.A. Kartini's condition after giving birth to her first son worsened. She was said to have suffered severe bleeding until finally, on September 17, 1904, R.A. Kartini breathed her last at the age of 25 (Yuliati, 2017: 17-27). She was buried in the Mantingan Cemetery complex, Bulu Village, Mantingan District, Rembang Regency, together with her husband and descendants.