Interesting Facts about Raden Ayu Lasminingrat, a Pioneer of Education in Indonesia

Search engine giant Google launched a Google Doodle on March 29, 2023, to celebrate Raden Ayu Lasminingrat’s 169th birthday. Lasminingrat was a pioneer in the advancement of Sundanese women and the founder of Sakola Kautamaan Istri in Indonesia. Here are some interesting and fun facts about Lasminingrat.

A look at Lasminingrat’s life and work is provided here.

Who was Raden Ayu Lasminingrat?

Quick Look

• Birth date: March 29, 1854
• Birthplace: Garut, Dutch East Indies
• Died on: April 10, 1948 (age 94)
• Death place: Garut, Indonesia
• Other names: Raden Ayu Lasminingrat
• Known as: Women’s emancipation, Pioneer of Education, Sundanese Women’s Activist
• Father name: Raden Haji Muhammad Musa
• Mother name: Raden Ayu Ria
• Spouse: Raden Adipati Aria Wiratanudatar VII

25 Interesting Facts about Lasminingrat

1. Raden Ayu Lasminingrat was born on March 29th, 1854 in Garut, Indonesia, to Raden Ayu Ria and Raden Haji Muhamad Musa, a Sundanese scholar and pioneer of printed literature.
2. Lasminingrat was forced to be taken care of by Levyson Norman, a friend of her father, to complete her education in Sumedang. He taught her Dutch and helped Lasminingrat become the first Indonesian woman at the time to be able to write and read Dutch fluently.
3. Materials for learning about writing, reading, Dutch, and generally western culture. Lasminingrat, like Dewi Sartika or Kartini in the future, had far-sighted dreams and aspirations to advance the role and equality of Indonesian women as a result of this direct upbringing experience.
4. Thus, Raden Ayu Lasminingrat’s ability to speak Dutch was very fluent, even Karel Frederik Holle, an administrator at the Waspada Tea Plantation, Cikajang, praised her.
5. After becoming the first Indonesian woman to become proficient and speaking and writing Dutch, Lasminingrat proceeded to translate European fairy tales to Sundanese.
6. In 1879, Lasminingrat educated children about morality, religion, the natural sciences, psychology, and sociology by reading books in Sundanese.
7. She inserts stories in languages other than Sundanese that are adapted to the Sundanese culture and written in simple language.
8. The next significant step was Lasminingrat’s establishment of the Sakola Kautamaan Istri in Garut Hall’s Gamelan Room around 1907. At first, it was opened exclusively for the environment of the priyayi or local respectability with the topic through reading, writing, and women’s empowerment.
9. Other than that, Lasminingrat writes with diligence. Warnasari (volumes 1 and 2) is one of her most famous works.
10. She continued to translate books into Sundanese, including Warnasari volumes 1 and 2, which were widely celebrated throughout Indonesia.
11. Lasminingrat married Raden Adipati Aria Wiratanudatar VII, the Indonesian regent of Garut.
12. Lasminingrat stopped working on her writing. The education of Sundanese women was then her primary focus.
13. The school moved to Jalan Ranggalawe in 1911. Startlingly, in 1911 the school was constructed. There were 200 students enrolled, and five classrooms were constructed adjacent to the pavilion. Through deed number 12 dated February 12, 1913, the Dutch East Indies government finally granted approval to this school.
14. In 1934, the cities of Wetan Garut, Cikajang, and Bayongbong received Keutamaan Istri branches.
15. The Istri School for Women was reestablished in 1912 by Lasminingrat in the location and building that are currently used by SMA Negeri 1 Garut, east of the square.
16. Lasminingrat received a fixed monthly award and compensation while teaching because the colonial government deemed her contributions to the development of native education to be significant. In addition, in 1913, the name of the establishment was changed from Limbangan Regency to Garut Regency.
17. Raden Ayu Lasminingrat finally left the pavilion and bought a house in Regensweg, which is now Jalan Siliwangi. The Yogya Department Store now occupies this enormous house.
18. She continued to be active until she was 80, though not directly in education. The People’s School (SR), previously known as the Sakola Kautamaan Istri, began admitting men during the Japanese occupation.
19. These SRs have been SDN Ranggalawe I and IV since 1950, and the Education and Culture Office of the Garut Regency Level II Region is in charge of running them. It changed again in the 1990s, becoming SDN Regol VII and X.
20. Lasminingrat died on April 10, 1948, at the age of 94, and she was buried right behind the Great Mosque of Garut afterward.
21. Purnacyrfilm maningrat, a relative, carried on her dream and struggle for women’s education.
22. Lasminingrat has made a significant contribution to Sudanese literature and society as a whole throughout her literary career.
23. Additionally, she worked on women’s empowerment and emancipation. Her school has expanded in Indonesia.
24. Lasminingrat was dubbed “Indonesia’s First Literacy Mother.” The Indonesian government has proposed naming RA Lasminingrat as a National Hero of Indonesia.
25. Google created a doodle to commemorate Lasminingrat’s 169th birthday on March 29, 2023.