Doi Sartika

Doi Sartika, also known as Dewi Sartika, was an Indonesian educator and feminist who founded the first school for women in Indonesia. She was born in Cicalengka, a village in West Java, to a Sundanese noble family. She showed an interest in teaching since she was a child, and often taught her friends and servants' children how to read and write. She moved to Bandung with her mother after her father died, and received education in Sundanese culture from her uncle, who was a vice regent. She also learned about Western culture from the wife of a Dutch assistant resident. She married Raden Kanduruhan Agah Soeriawinata, a school teacher, in 1906. With the support of her uncle and her husband, she opened the first school for women in Bandung in 1904, called Sakola Istri (Women's School). She taught her students various skills, such as knitting, cooking, sewing, reading, writing, and Dutch. She also encouraged them to be independent and confident. She expanded her school network to other regions in West Java, and changed the name of her school to Sekolah Kaoetamaan Isteri (Wife Eminency School) in 1910, and to Sekolah Raden Dewi in 1929. She received the Order of Orange-Nassau from the Dutch government for her service in education in 1939. She died in 1947 in Cineam, Tasikmalaya, while evacuating from Bandung due to the Indonesian War of Independence. She was declared a National Hero of Indonesia in 1966 by the Indonesian government. She is widely regarded as a pioneer of women's education and empowerment in Indonesia.