Sulaeman Sastrawinata


Raden Adipati Aria Sulaeman Sastrawinata was a Sundanese aristocrat and the regent of Ciamis under the Dutch East Indies from 1914 to 1935.

Early life

Sastrawinata was born in Purwakarta, West Java. He had been the chief prosecutor in Serang.

Regent of Ciamis

Sastrawinata was appointed regent in 1914, replacing the retiring Raden Adipati Aria Kusumabrata of Galuh. In 1916, he changed the name of Galuh to Ciamis, a move that brought disapproval among many residents.

Death

Sastrawinata died on 16 June 1951.

Marriages and children

Sastrawinata's first marriage was to Mojanegara, whom he married in 1896. She died of dysentery and did not bear him any children, but they adopted a niece and nephew from Purwakarta. When she was seeking treatment from Dutch doctors in Garut, she became fond of a local girls' school teacher named Suhaemi, who was 15 years old at the time. Prior to her death, Mojanegara asked her husband to marry Suhaemi, and the two were married in 1916. Despite being the daughter of a wealthy landowner, Suhaemi was not of noble birth, so she could not become Sastraningrat's official wife and take the title of Raden Ayu. In 1919, he married Kancananingrat, the widowed daughter of the regent of Sumedang, and she became his Raden Ayu.
Ten days before Sastrawinata's marriage to Kancananingrat, Suhaemi gave birth to his first child, a daughter whom he named Kurnia, meaning gift. He later appended her name with ningrat to indicate aristocratic descent. Suhaemi's second child, a son, was born in 1924, and two more daughters were born in 1932 and 1934.