Priyayi was the Dutch-era class of the nobles of the robe, as opposed to royal nobility or ningrat (Javanese), in Java, Indonesia. Priyayi is a Javanese word originally denoting the descendants of the adipati or governors, the first of whom were appointed in the 17th century by the Sultan Agung of Mataram to administer the principalities he had conquered. Initially court officials in pre-colonial kingdoms, the priyayi moved into the colonial civil service and then on to administrators of the modern Indonesian Republic.
Raden Adjeng Kartini, also known as Raden Ayu Kartini, was a prominent Indonesian activist who advocated for women's rights and female education.
Raden Saleh Sjarif Boestaman was a pioneering Romantic painter from the Dutch East Indies of Arab-Javanese ethnicity. He was considered to be the first "modern" artist from Indonesia, and his paintings corresponded with nineteenth-century romanticism which was popular in Europe at the time. He also expressed his cultural roots and inventiveness in his work.
Petrus Josephus Zoetmulder S.J. was a Dutch expert in the Old Javanese language. He came from Utrecht and was associated with the Society of Jesus by 1925. He worked at Leiden University in the 1930s. His first work appeared in 1930 and he continued to write into the 1990s. He lived in Yogyakarta and was interred in the Jesuit necropolis at Muntilan, Java.
Jamu is a traditional medicine from Indonesia. It is predominantly a herbal medicine made from natural materials, such as roots, bark, flowers, seeds, leaves and fruits. Materials acquired from animals, such as honey, royal jelly, milk and native chicken eggs are often used as well.
Balai Pustaka is the state-owned publisher of Indonesia and publisher of major pieces of Indonesian literature such as Salah Asuhan, Sitti Nurbaya and Layar Terkembang. Its head office is in Jakarta.
Dutch Indies literature or Dutch East Indies literature is the Dutch language literature of colonial and post-colonial Indonesia from the Dutch Golden Age to the present day. It includes Dutch, Indo-European and Indonesian authors. Its subject matter thematically revolves around the VOC and Dutch East Indies eras, but also includes the postcolonial discourse.
Raden Mas Noto Soeroto (1888–1951) was a Javanese prince from the Jogjakarta noble house of Paku Alaman and was a poet and writer of Dutch Indies literature and journalist from the Dutch East Indies. He significantly contributed to the Dutch literary system by exploring new literary themes and focusing on indigenous protagonists, at the same time drawing attention to indigenous culture and the indigenous plight.
Poedjangga Baroe was an Indonesian avant-garde literary magazine published from July 1933 to February 1942. It was founded by Armijn Pane, Amir Hamzah, and Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana.
Akhmad Bassah, best known by the pen name Joehana, was an author from the Dutch East Indies who wrote in Sundanese. He worked for a time on the railroad before becoming an author by 1923, and had a strong interest in social welfare; this interest influenced his novels. He was also a productive translator, dramatist, and reporter, and operated a company which offered writing services. Sources disagree when Joehana died; some offer 1930, while others give 1942–45.
Kandjeng Pangeran Aria Adipati Achmad Djajadiningrat was a prominent colonial Indonesian bureaucrat who served as Regent of Serang (1901–1924), and subsequently of Batavia (1924–1929). He was also a member of the Volksraad of the Dutch East Indies.
Kartini Schools, named for the Javanese women's rights advocate Raden Ajeng Kartini, were opened to educate indigenous girls in the Dutch East Indies in the wake of the Dutch Ethical Policy.
Soeman Hasibuan better known by his pen name Soeman Hs, was an Indonesian author recognized for pioneering detective fiction and short story writing in the country's literature. Born in Bengkalis, Riau, Dutch East Indies, to a family of farmers, Soeman studied to become a teacher and, under the author Mohammad Kasim, a writer. He began working as a Malay-language teacher after completing normal school in 1923, first in Siak Sri Indrapura, Aceh, then in Pasir Pengaraian, Rokan Hulu, Riau. Around this time he began writing, publishing his first novel, Kasih Tak Terlarai, in 1929. In twelve years he published five novels, one short story collection, and thirty-five short stories and poems.
Feminism in Indonesia refers to the long history of discourse for gender equality to bring about positive social change in Indonesia. The issues women in Indonesia currently are facing include gender violence, underage marriages, and lack of representation in the political system. Feminism and the women's right movement began during colonial Indonesia under Dutch rule and were spearheaded by the national heroine Kartini, a Javanese noblewoman who advocated for the education of all women and girls regardless of social status. In the early 19th century, women's rights organizations and movements were allowed to developed under Budi Utomo, the first Indonesian Nationalist organization. Modern day Indonesian feminism include and are influenced by both fundamentalist and progressive Islamic women's organizations.
Suwarsih Djojopuspito, in pre-1940 spelling Soewarsih Djojopoespito, was an Indonesian author, regarded as one of the most important Indonesian feminist writers, publishing from the 1940s to the 1970s. Among her most well-known works are the semi-autobiographical novel Buiten het gareel (1940) and the short story collection Empat Serangkai (1954). She was among the vanguard of early feminist authors in Indonesia that preceded the New Order, and was one of the first female writers to be published by the state publishing house Balai Pustaka.
Saadah Alim (1897–1968) was a writer, playwright, translator, journalist and educator in the Dutch East Indies and in Indonesia after independence. She was one of only a handful of Indonesian women authors to be published during the colonial period, alongside Fatimah Hasan Delais, Sariamin Ismail, Soewarsih Djojopoespito and a few others. She is known primarily for her journalism, her collection of short stories Taman Penghibur Hati (1941), and her comedic play Pembalasannya (1940).
Raden Ajeng Srimulat, also known simply as Srimulat, was an Indonesian comedian, actor, singer, and founding member of the popular Srimulat comedy troupe. She was the wife of Teguh Slamet Rahardjo, one of the most famous Indonesian comedians of the postwar era.
Hurustiati Subandrio, in Van Ophuijsen Spelling Hoeroestiati Soebandrio, was an Indonesian physician, politician, anthropologist, and social activist. She held several high-profile roles during the Sukarno era, including being head of Public Health education for the Ministry of Health, president of the Indonesian Women's Congress, and vice-chair of the World Health Organization. She was the wife of Subandrio, a close ally of Sukarno who was Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs (1956–1966) and later a political prisoner (1966–1995).
Censorship in the Dutch East Indies was significantly stricter than in the Netherlands, as the freedom of the press guaranteed in the Constitution of the Netherlands did not apply in the country's overseas colonies. Before the twentieth century, official censorship focused mainly on Dutch-language materials, aiming at protecting the trade and business interests of the colony and the reputation of colonial officials. In the early twentieth century, with the rise of Indonesian nationalism, censorship also encompassed materials printed in local languages such as Malay and Javanese, and enacted a repressive system of arrests, surveillance and deportations to combat anti-colonial sentiment.
Raden Ayu Lasminingrat was a Sundanese author and scholar. She was the first Garut woman who spoke Dutch fluently.
