Nani Soewondo-Soerasno
Soewondo with a Dutch author, Cora Vreede-de Stuers, in 1957
Born (1918-08-15) 15 August 1918
Semarang, Dutch East Indies
Other namesNani Suwondo
Occupation(s)Lawyer, activist

Nani Soewondo-Soerasno[lower-alpha 1] (born 15 August 1918 – date of death unknown)[1] was an Indonesian lawyer, suffragist, and women's rights activist.

Early life

Soewondo-Soerasno was born in Semarang in 1918 to a middle-class family.[2][3] Her parents supported her choice to study law in what was then called Batavia (now Jakarta).[3] She graduated in 1942 from the Faculty of Law at the University of Indonesia.[1] While studying, she was assistant to Soepomo, who would become known as the Father of the Indonesian Constitution.[1][4]

Career

Soon after graduating, Soweondo took a position with the Department of Justice. Soewondo was a member of the NTR Commission (Nikah, Talak, Rudjuk) on marriage inequity set up by the 1949 Women's Congress, serving as secretary.[5] In 1950, the Indonesian government backed this commission and asked it to form new matrimonial legislation.[1]

Soewondo continued to work closely with Maria Ulfah Santoso and the Indonesian Women's Congress in the early 1950s.[3] She was vice-president of the Women's Congress in the 1950s.[1] She served as editor-in-chief of Suara Perwari, the publication of Perwari (the Union of the Women of the Republic of Indonesia).[1] Soewondo also filled the role of president of the legal part of Perwari.[1] In 1955, she helped organize the Perhimpunan Wanita Universitas Indonesia (Association of Indonesian University Women), with herself as inaugural leader.[1]

Soewondo (far left) along with other Indonesian feminist leaders at the 1958 Asian-African Women's Conference in Colombo

In 1957, she served as a delegate to a United Nations conference in Colombo on increasing participation in civic life for Asian women.[2][1] In 1958, she participated in a 'study tour' of Australia to build cross-country links between Indonesian and Australian women's organizations.[6] In 1959, she was awarded a scholarship in honor of Elin Wägner by the Swedish government to carry out research on the history of Indonesian women's rights.[1] Described as a "forthright and experienced" woman, she was one of a number of prominent feminist leaders of the 1950s.[7] Mujīburraḥmān, an Indonesian historian, calls her "a leading activist of women's rights" in post-independence Indonesia.[8]

The main part of her work was aimed at marriage laws. In the late 1950s, Soewondo served as part of a three-member commission to develop the precise wording of the proposed marriage act, which she subsequently advocated for.[1] Soewondo wrote in her book, Kedudukan wanita Indonesia, that the "deplorable situation" of Indonesian women would not improve until legislation to "protect women against polygamy and repudiation" are enacted.[1] She contrasted Indonesia unfavorably with another Muslim nation, Tunisia, which she viewed as being more active in providing legal protection for women in marriage and outlawing child marriage.[1]

Soewondo worked to raise the age of marriage for girls, showing "outstanding dedication"; a 1973 research report on child marriage, which she helped author, helped lead to the 1974 Marriage Law reforms.[2][7] She also worked to combat polygamy and served as the vice-president of Planned Parenthood in Indonesia from 1957.[2][1] In 1981, she published a book on the status of Indonesian women under the law, which the Australian historian Susan Blackburn notes was unusual for its time period.[7]

Soewondo had five children.[1]

Notes

  1. ↑ In some sources, her name is given as Nani Suwondo.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Vreede-De Stuers, Cora (1960). The Indonesian Woman: Struggles and Achievements. Gravenhage: Mouton & Co. pp. 125, 137, 189. ISBN 9789027910448.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Rappaport, Helen (2001). "Soewondo-Soerasno, Nani". Encyclopedia of women social reformers. Vol. 2. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. pp. 653–4. ISBN 1-57607-101-4. OCLC 47973274. Archived from the original on 2020-05-30. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  3. 1 2 3 Janti, Nur (2018-06-22). "Nani, Teman Para Perempuan yang Terluka" [Nani, a friend to wounded women]. Historia: Majalah Sejarah Populer Pertama di Indonesia (in Indonesian). Historia Indonesia. Archived from the original on 2021-08-15. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  4. ↑ Drooglever, P. J. (1997), "The Genesis of the Indonesian Constitution of 1949" (PDF), Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 153 (1): 65–84, doi:10.1163/22134379-90003945, hdl:2066/29299, ISSN 0006-2294, S2CID 162342497
  5. ↑ Robinson, Kathryn (2008). Gender, Islam and Democracy in Indonesia. ASAA Women in Asia Series. Routledge. ISBN 9781134118823.
  6. ↑ Martyn, Elisabeth (2004). The Women's Movement in Postcolonial Indonesia: Gender and Nation in a New Democracy. Routledge. ISBN 9781134394708.
  7. 1 2 3 Blackburn, Susan (2004). Women and the State in Modern Indonesia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139456555.
  8. ↑ Mujīburraḥmān. (2006). Feeling threatened : Muslim-Christian relations in Indonesia's new order. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978-1-4294-5447-6. OCLC 85821965. Archived from the original on 2022-06-17. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
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