Siti Hartinah

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2007)

Raden Ayu Siti Hartinah (Born Jaten village, Surakarta, Central Java, August 23, 1923–Jakarta, April 28, 1996) was the wife of the second Indonesian president, Suharto. She is usually known as Ibu Tien, to Indonesians. Also known as Siti Hartinah Soeharto (the difference in spelling is due to Dutch Colonial era spelling) late wife of late former Indonesian President Haji Mohammed Suharto

Siti Hartinah married President Suharto on December 26, 1947 in Surakarta and died almost 12 years (on Sunday April 28, 1996) before Suharto's death, in 2008.

Her marriage to Suharto was initiated by Suharto's foster mother at the time, Ibu (Mrs) Prawirowiharjo, who sought an audience with Siti Hartinah's mother. Ibu Prawirowiharjo cultivated a close relationship with Siti Hartinah's mother, a family in Suharto's own words as "well regarded and respected in the city of Solo"[1]

Siti Hartinah was distantly related to the Mangkunegaran Royal household- although some commentators state that her honorific title of Raden Ayu was reserved only for faithful commoner courtiers or servants (abdi dalem) of the Mangkunegaran court.

She was married to Suharto on the 26 of December, 1947 in Surakarta in a traditional Javanese ceremony, the Javanese custom was for the bride's family to pay the bulk of the wedding costs. Suharto apparently droves there in a battered De Soto sedan. Suharto stated that the marriage was initially not one of romantic love, but they did eventually grow to love each devotedly, a type of marriage very common for many Javanese of that era. Three days after their marriage, Siti Hartinah was taken by Suharto to live in his Yogyakarta house at Jalan Merbabu 2.[2].

Suharto and Siti Hartinah had six children, Siti Hardiyanti Hastuti (Tutut), Sigit Harjojudanto (Sigit), Bambang Trihatmodjo (Bambang), Siti Hediati (Titiek), Hutomo Mandala Putra (Tommy) and Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih (Mamiek), and 11 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.

Siti Hartinah became to be known in Indonesia as "Madame Tien". Many Javanese saw her as one of the major causes of Suharto's own power. Ong Hok Ham, a prominent Indonesian social historian, said in an interview “When Suharto rose to power, people believed that the wife had the wahyu, the flaming womb, and whoever united with her would get the wahyu. After her death, people began to sense the wahyu was gone.” [3]

Mrs Suharto was also widely acknowledged to be a close confidant and political advisor to Suharto.

Siti Hartinah is currently interred in the Astana Giribangun Suharto mausloeum complex, in Karananyar Regency Central Java beside her husband, former president Suharto.

[edit] References

http://www.hamline.edu/apakabar/basisdata/1996/04/29/0000.html

  1. ^ Suharto: A Political Biography. Robert Edward Elson. Cambridge University Press, 2001: 22
  2. ^ Suharto: A Political Biography. Robert Edward Elson. Cambridge University Press, 2001: 23
  3. ^ The Jakarta Post - RI economy may face inflation peril: UN survey
  • Suharto: A Political Biography. Robert Edward Elson. Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN 0521773261
  • Siti Hartinah Soeharto : First Lady of Indonesia. Abdul Gafur. PT. Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada, 1992. ISBN- unnown
  • Who's Who in Indonesia. Mahiddin Mahmud. Gunung Agung, 1990. ISBN- unknown

[edit] External links

Languages