Born: 1918 (Semarang, Indonesia)
Biography:
Nani Soewondo-Soerasno (born 15 August 1918) was an Indonesian lawyer, suffragist, and women’s rights activist. She played a significant role in advocating for women’s rights and gender equality in post-independence Indonesia.
Soewondo-Soerasno was born in Semarang in 1918 to a middle-class family. Her parents supported her choice to study law in what was then called Batavia (now Jakarta). In 1942, she graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Indonesia. During her studies, she had the privilege of working as an assistant to Soepomo, who would later be known as the Father of the Indonesian Constitution.
Soon after graduating, Soewondo-Soerasno began her career with the Department of Justice. In 1949, she was appointed as the secretary of the NTR Commission (Nikah, Talak, Rudjuk) on marriage inequity, established by the Women’s Congress. This commission was later backed by the Indonesian government, and Soewondo played an instrumental role in shaping new matrimonial legislation.
Throughout the early 1950s, Soewondo-Soerasno continued to work closely with Maria Ulfah Santoso and the Indonesian Women’s Congress. She served as vice-president of the Women’s Congress and held prominent positions within Perwari, the Union of the Women of the Republic of Indonesia. Soewondo also served as the editor-in-chief of Suara Perwari, the organization’s publication, and as the president of the organization’s legal part.
In 1955, Soewondo-Soerasno took the lead in organizing the Perhimpunan Wanita Universitas Indonesia, an association for Indonesian university women. Her commitment to empowering women led her to participate as a delegate in a United Nations conference in Colombo in 1957. There, she discussed increasing women’s participation in civic life, emphasizing the importance of gender equality.
In 1958, Soewondo-Soerasno joined a ‘study tour’ of Australia, aimed at establishing connections between Indonesian and Australian women’s organizations. Her efforts to promote women’s rights were recognized in 1959 when she was awarded a scholarship by the Swedish government to conduct research on the history of Indonesian women’s rights.
Described as a forthright and experienced woman, Soewondo-Soerasno was one of the leading feminist activists of the 1950s in Indonesia. She focused primarily on advocating for changes to marriage laws, aiming to improve the legal protection of Indonesian women. Soewondo was part of a three-member commission in the late 1950s responsible for developing the precise wording of the proposed marriage act. She passionately advocated for legislation that would protect women against polygamy and repudiation, citing Tunisia as an example of a Muslim nation that had made significant progress in providing legal protection for women in marriage and outlawing child marriage.
Throughout her career, Soewondo-Soerasno showed outstanding dedication to raising the age of marriage for girls and improving the rights of women in Indonesia. Her work as a women’s rights activist left a lasting impact on the legal landscape of the country.