Hartini

Siti Suhartini (20 September 192412 March 2002), better known as Hartini and also known as Hartini Sukarno, was the fourth wife of President Sukarno of Indonesia. Born to a forestry worker in Ponorogo, Hartini was married in her youth to a man named Suwondo, with whom she had five children. She met Sukarno in 1952, and after exchanging a series of pseudonymous love letters and receiving the blessings of his wife Fatmawati, the two were married on 7 July 1953. Their union faced outrage, including protests from pro-monogamy women's organizations. Hartini was required to live at the Presidential Palace in Bogor rather than the main palace in Jakarta and was not recognized as first lady.

In the late 1950s, Hartini began to assume more of the responsibilities expected of a first lady, though without the title, travelling abroad as a representative, attending events, and delivering speeches. She also gained a reputation as a woman with influence on Sukarno, with whom she remained even as he continued to take other wives and conduct affairs. After the fall of Sukarno and transition to the New Order under President Suharto, Hartini was condemned for her leftist politics. She remained with Sukarno until his death in 1970, the only one of his wives not to leave him.

Early life Hartini was born Siti Suhartini in Ponorogo, East Java, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), on 20 September 1924. The second child of a forestry worker named Murawi and his wife, she frequently moved during her childhood. She completed her primary studies in Malang, then was adopted by a man named Oesan and brought to Bandung, West Java, where she enrolled at the Njiverheidschoola school for teaching domestic skills. She later recalled that her parents had greatly emphasized the traditional role of women in Javanese culture, which she sought to embody in her marriages: "a wife should be a mother, friend, and lover to her husband".

On 20 December 1943, Hartini entered an arranged marriage with an oil company worker named Suwondo. The couple moved to Salatiga, Central Java, where their union produced five children. Hartini and Suwondo divorced in the early 1950s, though the timeline is disputed. Some writers, such as the journalist Rosihan Anwar, described them as having separated by the time Hartini met President Sukarno. Others, including the biographer , the Australian historian John Legge, and the American historian Theodore Friend, wrote that Hartini and Suwondo were still married when she was romanced by Sukarno. Hartini denied the latter claim, writing in 1970 that she was already divorced. In 1954, the newspaper Indonesia Raya reported that Hartini and Suwondo divorced in April 1952, and Suwondo testified in court later that year that they had registered their divorce on 12 April 1954 but agreed to backdate it to 12 April 1952.

Meeting Sukarno In September 1952, Hartini met Sukarno when catering a dinner between the president and the mayor of Salatiga when the former was travelling to Yogyakarta to inaugurate the . Hartini and Sukarno felt a mutual attraction, despite the 23-year age difference. Hartini felt "smitten" by him from their first meeting, a feeling that deepened as she got to know the president better. Meanwhile, in his first letter, Sukarno wrote that he "was much moved" when he first saw Hartini; according to Friend, he was stimulated by Hartini's intelligence and sophistication.

Sukarno began sending Hartini love letters through an intermediary, identified by Anwar as General Gatot Soebroto and by Legge as Major General Soehardjo Hardjowardojo. Sukarno signed these letters with a pseudonym, Srihana, and referred to Hartini as Srihani; he later explained to Hartini that he had derived these names from a Javanese legend of inseparable lovers. During their affair, Hartini would regularly travel overland from Salatiga to Semarang, from which she would fly to Jakarta before heading to the Presidential Palace in Cipanas. The couple also met at Prambanan when Sukarno inaugurated the Ramayana Ballet. Prime Minister Ali Sastroamidjojo urged Sukarno to maintain stability and avoid scandal by keeping his affair quiet. Sukarno countered that he loved Hartini deeply, and it would thus be immoral to keep her as a mere mistress.

On 15 January 1953, Sukarno asked his wife Fatmawati, who had given birth to their youngest son Guruh two days previously, permission to take Hartini as a second wife. She gave Sukarno her blessing, despite being against the union, and Sukarno proposed. Hartini initially refused, for fear that she would be seen as stealing another woman's husband. She agreed after Sukarno stated that he could not live without her and she would be his "queen without a crown". Sukarno and Hartini were married on 7 July 1953 at Cipanas. It was Sukarno's fourth marriage, as well as his first polygamous marriage.

Marriage Sukarno's relationship with Hartini faced outrage both due to its timing and the ongoing effort to pass a new monogamous marriage law. Women's organizations then campaigning against polygamy in Indonesia, including the Indonesian Women's Congress, decried the union and deemed it degrading to women. Several religious groups marched on the presidential palace and conducted protests, which Sukarno recalled to have distressed him, and members of the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani) were reported to have thrown objects at Hartini's home in Salatiga. Newspapers such as Indonesia Raya and Pedoman carried editorials against the marriage, and several called for Sukarno's resignation. The newspaper Pemandangan argued that, if Hartini had only divorced in April 1954, she had yet to complete the waiting period mandated by Islamic law by the time of her marriage. Meanwhile, although Fatmawati had moved out of the palace by December 1955 and sought a divorce, she remained married to Sukarno and retained the title of First Lady of Indonesia.

According to Friend and Legge, Hartini's relationship with Sukarno increased his political determination and improved his confidence. She, however, was ostracized from Jakarta's high society through the 1950s and consciously excluded from major political events, including Mothers' Day celebrations as well as the 1955 Bandung Conference. Vice-president Mohammad Hatta was so angered by Sukarno's decision to abandon Fatmawati that he would leave a room if Hartini entered. In 1954, Sukarno promised that Hartini would not be introduced to the Indonesian public, and after a controversial attempt in 1955 she was no longer brought on official business. Her involvement in official functions was generally limited to small and intimate ones. Writing in 1970, Hartini recalled that, "In some ways, it was harder to be the second wife of the President than his mistress."

Hartini was not permitted to live at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta. Rather, she lived at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, seeing Sukarno only on the weekends. They communicated by telephone during the week, twice daily, though Sukarno slept in Jakarta. Hartini brought her children from her first marriage to Bogor, and had two more sons with Sukarno, (b. 1955) and Bayu (b. 1958).

Dominance in Bogor

By the late 1950s, Hartini had developed increased political acumen, despite her status as a second wife creating protocol problems at state functions. She met with numerous heads of state, including Akihito of Japan, Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam, and Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia, and Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia. She also represented Indonesia abroad on several occasions, including Yugoslave in 1960 and China and Poland in 1962, and reaffirmed alliances with the Eastern Bloc. In Indonesia, Hartini delivered speeches and attended official functions. Although during this period she took more of the roles expected of the first lady, she never officially held the title; when a 1963 women's congress considered such a proposal, Sukarno interrupted his presidential duties to attend the congress, remove Hartini, and order her return to Bogor.

While still forbidden from attending the palace in Jakarta, where Sukarno lived with four of his children by Fatmawati, Hartini established what Legge describes as "a court of her own" in Bogor. Access to Hartini meant easier access to the president. Government officialsincluding Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) leaders such as DN Aidit and Njotoattempted to curry her favour, while the wives of General Ahmad Yani and Minister of Foreign Affairs Subandrio were rumoured to maintain good relations with her for the sake of their husbands. This influence was also recognized by international dignitaries; when Cindy Adams was preparing her biography of the president, United States ambassador Howard P. Jones urged her to interview Hartini. Adams later described Hartini as "Sukarno's number two-wife, number one in power and prestige."

Although Hartini exerted significant influence through and on Sukarno, she did not have a monopoly on her husband, who developed a reputation as a womanizer. He refused to divorce Fatmawati, stating that he still loved her. Likewise, although Sukarno promised Hartini that she would be his last wife, he later married Ratna Sari Dewi in 1961, in 1963, and in 1964. Although he spent his weekends with Hartini and weekdays with his other wives, he attempted to conceal these other marriages from Hartini. He also conducted numerous affairs, which Hartini stopped inquiring about under threat of abandonment. In a 1999 interview, Hartini recalled, "He truly loved beauty, and the beauty found in women's graces." She explained that it had taken her three years to learn to accept Sukarno as he was, though even then it remained a burden.

Fall from power In September 1965, a coup was undertaken by a group identifying itself as the 30 September Movement (, or G30S). The coup was blamed on the PKI. Subsequently, student demonstrations called for the dissolution of the party, as well as reduced inflation and the end of Sukarno's rule. Protests erupted in front of several presidential palaces. Among protestors' complaints were Sukarno's numerous wives. At Hartini's domicile in Bogor, students vandalized the walls with phrases such as "" and "" ('grand palace whore'). This vandalism reportedly infuriated Sukarno, who called ten student representatives to his office and yelled at them. Ultimately, Sukarno was deposed, with Suharto taking the presidency in 1967 after previously receiving permission to ensure security in Indonesia through the Order of Eleven March.

On 1 July 1968 Hartini was removed from the Bogor palace and relocated to nearby Batu Tulis. Sukarno began house arrest, with his time divided between her and his other wives in Jakarta. Over time, these wives left him, with Hartini the only one to remain with the former president. During the transitionary period, Hartini faced accusations that she was aligned with leftist organizations, such as the now-banned Gerwani, and that she had channeled funds to the Communist Party. Based on such reports, she was interrogated by the new regime. In October 1968, the Associated Press reported that Hartini had been arrested and charged with supporting Sukarno's continued political activity; the report was refuted by , the presidential secretary for Suharto. United Press International reported that several of Sukarno's wives blamed Hartini and her leftist politics for his downfall.

Despite her continued marriage to Sukarno, Hartini was frequently denied access to him. In late 1969, she began to see her husband with increasing frequency, with daily visits to Wisma Yaso in Jakarta beginning in mid-1970. She later recalled that she had spent four months with Sukarno at his bedside, the only one he would allow to treat him, as he sank into a depression. After Sukarno's death on 21 June 1970, Hartini petitioned Suharto to allow his burial at Batu Tulis, though this request was denied and Sukarno was ultimately buried in a tomb in Blitar. Sukarno's daughter Rachmawati wrote in her memoirs that, although she had been angered by Hartini's role in Sukarno's separation from Fatmawati, these feelings gave way to a new respect as Hartini faithfully accompanied her father.

In her widowhood, Hartini received a third of the pension allocated to Sukarno's wives. She dedicated her time to charity, attended functions related to Sukarno's family, and represented Sukarno when he was declared a "Proclamator Hero" in 1986. By 1999, she was living in Central Jakarta, filling her days with social activities and housework. In her old age, Hartini developed a heart condition, for which she received regular medical care. She died in Jakarta on 12 March 2002 at the Metropolitan Medical Centre Hospital in Jakarta, having spent three days in a coma. Hartini was buried at Karet Bivak Cemetery, after a wake led by her stepdaughter, President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Explanatory notes