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Kartini: the letters that brought light after darkness

She was kept at home from the age of 12, so she wrote letters, and they outlived her by more than a century.

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The real story

Raden Ajeng Kartini was born in Jepara, Central Java, in 1879, the daughter of a regent. At 12 she had to leave the Dutch school she loved and stay secluded at home until marriage, as Javanese noble custom required. She read everything she could and wrote long letters in Dutch to friends in the Netherlands about education for girls, forced marriage and colonial injustice.

In 1903 she opened a small school for girls, and after her marriage that year to the regent of Rembang she continued teaching there. She died in September 1904, aged 25, days after giving birth to her son. In 1911 her letters were published as 'Door Duisternis tot Licht'. In Indonesian they became 'Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang', she was made a National Hero in 1964, and her birthday, 21 April, is now Kartini Day.

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The facts we checked

  • R.A. Kartini (1879–1904) from Jepara, Central Java, wrote letters to friends in the Netherlands about girls' right to education
  • She opened a school for girls; she died in 1904, aged 25
  • Her letters were published in 1911; the Indonesian title became 'Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang' ('after darkness, light'). Kartini Day is 21 April

Sources

We checked every number and date on screen before the video was made.

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