Fatmawati

Fatmawati (5 February 1923 – 14 May 1980) was the first lady of Indonesia from 1945 until 1967. She was the third wife of the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno, and the mother of Indonesia's first female president, Megawati Sukarnoputri. She also made the first flag flown by Indonesia. One of her ancestors was a princess of a Minangkabau kingdom, Sultanate of Inderapura. When she met Sukarno she was a teenager and he was married to a 53-year-old woman named Inggit Garnasih. Unsurprisingly, Sukarno's wife was unwilling to release her husband but, after two years, Inggit agreed to a divorce. Sukarno rationalised the need for his new wife by stating his desire to have a child to carry on his name. and the same flag was flown again every year until 1967. Although she was Sukarno's third wife, all his previous wives had been divorced in accordance with state law. Fatmawati was therefore his only wife at that time.

Polygamy

There was a growing movement to reform women's rights in Indonesia and part of this was to reform the marriage laws. Fatmawati was not initially in favour of reforming these laws until she found out about her husband's intentions to marry again. Moreover, this time Sukarno had decided that he did not want to divorce Fatmawati but intended to have two wives.

Fatmawati objected when her husband took Hartini, his new wife, according to Muslim law. Sukarno married another woman from Java in 1953 and Fatmawati moved out of the presidential palace and lived separately in Jakarta. As part of the settlement, Fatmawati was allowed to keep the title of first lady. This development was a major blow to the growing women's movement. Fatmawati decided that she was going to divorce the president, but she could not find a religious leader who was willing to oppose the will of Sukarno.

Sukarno's new wife bore him two additional children; however, Sukarno reacted badly when he heard that his latest wife had allowed a women's group to consider transferring the title of first lady to her. Sukarno returned and had her thrown out of the meeting and exiled to Bogor.

Fatmawati's second child, Megawati Sukarnoputri, became president in 2001.

Death

Fatmawati died of a heart attack on 14 May 1980 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on her way back to Jakarta from an umra in Mecca. She is buried in Karet Bivak Cemetery, Central Jakarta.

Legacy

Her childhood home in Bengkulu has become a tourist attraction, and lies on Jalan Fatmawati (Fatmawati Street). The city’s airport is named Fatmawati Soekarno Airport after her.

Fatmawati Central Public Hospital (RSUP Fatmawati) in South Jakarta is named after her, as well as a major artery to the hospital (Jalan RS Fatmawati) and a rapid transit station (Fatmawati MRT station) nearby.