Kartini Day is celebrated annually on April 21 to commemorate the birth of national heroine Raden Ajeng Kartini, who is hailed as a symbol of women’s empowerment in the country for promoting gender equity and women’s rights during the Dutch colonial era.

April 21
It takes place each year on April 21, the birthdate of Raden Adjeng Kartini (fondly referred to as Ibu Kartini or Mother Kartini). On this day, Indonesians commemorate the life of Kartini and celebrate the strides she made toward the emansipasi (emancipation) of women in the country.

Raden Adjeng Kartini (21 April 1879 – 17 September 1904), also known as Raden Ayu Kartini, was a prominent Indonesian activist who advocated for women’s rights and female education. After her death, her sisters continued her advocacy of educating girls and women.

Raden Adjeng Kartini opened the first Indonesian primary school for native girls that did not discriminate based on social standing in 1903. She corresponded with Dutch colonial officials to further the cause of Javanese women’s emancipation up until her death, on September 17, 1904, in Rembang Regency, Java.

Her father being a Javanese aristocrat working for the Dutch colonial administration as governor of the Japara Regency (an administrative district), Kartini had the unusual opportunity to attend a Dutch school, which exposed her to Western ideas and made her fluent in Dutch.

Raden Adipati Joyodiningratm. 1903–1904
Kartini/Spouse

Europeesche Lagere School
Kartini/Education

Jepara, Indonesia
Kartini/Place of birth

Kartini Day is an essential national day that should be celebrated by all, especially in schools. In our school, Sinarmas World Academy, we celebrate Kartini Day through performances and poetry that creatively depict Kartini’s struggles and how she catalysed the feminist movement in Indonesia.

Kartini is my hero because without Kartini’s struggle to progress, indigenous local women, who at that time had low social status, would not have as many rights. I would not have knowledge now. Kartini made it possible for all Indonesian women to be able to go to school and have knowledge.

April 21, 1879
Kartini/Date of birth
April 21, the day of her birth, is celebrated as “Hari Ibu Kartini” (Kartini Day). She is seen as the symbol of Indonesian women’s emancipation. Kartini was born on 21 April 1879, in a village called Mayong in the town of Jepara, North Central Java to an aristocrat family.

Kartini/Husband

Kartini Day is an Indonesian holiday celebrated in memory of Ajeng Kartini’s birth, a national heroine honoured for her efforts in fighting for women’s rights. Raden Ajeng Kartini was born on the 21st of April 1879, and is one of the country’s most recognisable faces.

Kartini Day is a day commemorated to coincide with the birthday of National Independence Hero Raden Ayu Kartini (RA Kartini) on 21 April every year since 1964 by all Indonesian provinces.

Today, Kartini Day is celebrated on the 21st of April every year, and is also referred to as ‘Hari Ibu Kartini’ by the locals. Hailed as the country’s first feminist, Kartini is the symbol of women’s strength in a world that is fraught with gender inequality and the suppression of women’s rights.

Raden Adjeng Kartini, one of Indonesian Heroes, is someone from the Javanese aristocrat class, the daughter of Raden Mas Sosroningrat, the regent of Jepara. Kartini, usually referred to by her title Raden Ajeng, was born into an aristocratic Javanese family on April 21, 1879.