Rohana Kudus

Biography Early life

She was born Siti Ruhana on 20 December 1884, in the village of Koto Gadang, Agam Regency, in the hinterland of West Sumatra, Dutch East Indies. Her father Mohammad Rasjad Maharaja Soetan was the chief public prosecutor of Jambi Residency and later of Medan. Ruhana was the half-sister of Sutan Sjahrir, and a cousin of Agus Salim, both important intellectuals and politicians in the Indonesian independence movement. She was also an aunt of Indonesian poet Chairil Anwar. Ruhana was intelligent although she did not receive a formal education. She often studied with her father, who taught her in reading and language studies. When her father was assigned to Alahan Panjang, West Sumatera, she asked her neighbors (including the wife of another prosecutor) to teach her reading and writing in Jawi and Latin script, and household skills such as Lace-making. After the death of her mother in 1897, she returned to Koto Gadang and became increasingly interested in teaching the girls there to learn handicrafts and to read the Quran, despite still being a child herself.

Marriage and family

In 1908, at age 24, Ruhana married Abdoel Koeddoes, a notary public, and became known as Roehana Koeddoes. Abdoel Koeddoes was supportive of his wife's effort to educate women.

Educational career Ruhana's earliest efforts at a more organized form of education came in 1905 when she created an artisanal school in Koto Gadang.

Journalism career

Skilled in writing, Koeddoes did not stop with teaching women crafts. She believed in educating women as a whole. The following year, she send a letter to Mahyuddin Datuk Sutan Maharadja, chief editor of (EYD: Utusan Melayu), proposing to start a woman-oriented newspaper.

Maharadja had already heard about Ruhana's educational activities, and so on 10 July 1912, the first issue of Soenting Melajoe (EYD: Sunting Melayu), a Malay language newspaper with women as its intended audience, was launched. She stated that the newspaper would aim to improve the education level of Indonesian women, especially as few of them could read Dutch and relatively few modern educational materials were available in the Malay language (Indonesian). The newspaper discussed the social issues of the day, including traditionalism, polygamy, divorce, and girls' education. After returning to the Indies she continued to edit .

In early 1921 Ruhana left for unknown reasons and Soetan Maharadja appointed his own daughter Retna Tenoen as the new editor. However, did not last long after that and apparently printed its last issue in January 1921 along with Soetan Maharadja's other paper .

Death and honours Roehana Koeddoes died in Jakarta on 16 August 1972, one day before the 27th Indonesian Independence Day. She was buried in Karet Bivak Cemetery.

Since 7 November 2019, the Indonesian government declared Roehana Koeddoes as a National Hero of Indonesia through Presidential Decree no. 120/TK/2019 and given to her grandchild as heir on following day. Two years later, she was celebrated in a Google Doodle.

Legacy Her name is used (with popular version) for a hall at the Gelora Haji Agus Salim Sports Complex, as street name in Padang, including a trademark of keripik sanjai which is located on the same road.