Soemartini

Soemartini (17 August 193026 December 2017) is an Indonesian archivist and historian who served as the chief of Indonesia's national archives for more than two decades. She was previously a lecturer at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Indonesia and became the inaugural chairwoman of the faculty's alumni association.

Early life Soemartini was born on 17 August 1930 in Yogyakarta. She was raised in the city, where she completed her primary education in 1943, followed by junior high school in 1946 and high school in 1950. Initially, she enrolled in the Faculty of Law at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), but her interests shifted towards history. Despite her father's preference for her to continue in law, Soemartini pursued her passion and switched to the newly established history department at UGM.

However, her path was interrupted when the history department at UGM was closed due to the repatriation of Dutch professors. Soemartini was forced to transfer to the history department at University of Indonesia (UI) in Jakarta. She faced another challenge when she discovered that the history curriculum at UGM was more aligned with the archaeology curriculum at UI. She chose to restart her studies from the preparatory level. Soemartini was then invited by the then-Rector of UI, Soemantri Brodjonegoro, to pursue archival studies in the Netherlands. From 1967 to 1968, she studied at the Rijksarchief School, where she excelled in both paleography and archival studies, earning her diploma in a remarkably short time. She also gained practical experience at the Algemeene Rijksarchief, the Netherlands' archival authority.

Soemartini was also entrusted to lead the UI faculty of letters alumni association for more than ten years, with archaeology professor Ayatrohaedi as her deputy.

Later life After her retirement, Soemartini focused on teaching history and library and information science in UI. She also managed the Pelita Ilmu foundation, a foundation established by her colleagues and herself to provide sex education to teenagers. On 11 August 2000, she received the Star of Mahaputera, 5th class, from President Abdurrahman Wahid, with the conferment ceremony being held on the Merdeka Palace four days later. Throughout her life, Soemartini was never married, and she lived alone at her house in Pondok Indah.