Siti Hartinah
Raden Ayu Siti Hartinah, also known as Siti Hartinah Suharto or Tien Suharto, was the first lady of Indonesia from 1967 until her death in 1996, as the wife of Indonesian president Suharto. She is popularly known as Ibu Tien in Indonesia.
Early life
Siti Hartinah was born in Surakarta, Central Java to Sumoharyomo and Hatmanti Hatmohudoyo, in 1923. She was the second daughter of eleven siblings. Her family were part of the Surakarta nobility and were related to the Mangkunegaran royal household. Her father was a Wedana, an official in the Mankunegara court and held the noble title Kanjeng Pangeran Haryå. Her mother was a descendant of Mangkunegara III and held the title Kanjeng Raden Ayu. At that time, employees of the royal court had to have royal blood.In her youth, Siti Hartinah had always wanted to become a doctor. However, being a woman in a country that was under Dutch colonial rule, and a traditional Javanese environment, meant limited opportunities. Though they were a prominent and respected family, they were far from rich. She received basic education from Hollandsch-Inlandsche School, but her family could not afford to send Siti Hartinah to further her education, as had been given to her older sister.
When her father retired, her younger siblings were still very young. To help alleviate the financial burdens of such a large family, she looked for opportunities to supplement the family income, even though at that time it was still unusual for a young woman to work outside the home. She was fond of and was very good at Javanese arts, batik making and dyeing. She was able to sell these batik creations and used the proceeds to pay for typing classes.
During the Japanese occupation, she joined Fujinkai, which was the only permissible women's organization by the Japanese government. When Indonesia declared Independence in 1945 and the ensuing fight for independence occurred, like other young, patriotic women at that time, she enlisted in Laskar Puteri and worked for the Indonesian Red Cross.
Marriage to Suharto
Siti Hartinah’s marriage to Suharto was initiated by Suharto's foster mother, Mrs Prawirowiharjo. At that time, Suharto held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Indonesian Army where he was stationed in Yogyakarta. Siti Hartinah and Suharto had previously met when she attended the same school with one of Suharto’s cousins in Wonogiri.A ceremony known as nontoni was arranged. Suharto himself doubted if her parents would be ready to give their daughter's hand to a commoner. "After all, they were priyayi." Suharto also felt uncomfortable as he had not seen Hartinah for a long time and was not sure if she would like him. Nonetheless, Siti Hartinah’s parents appeared to have no objections and consented to have Suharto as their son-in-law.
Siti Hartinah married Suharto on 26 December 1947 in Surakarta. Suharto was 26, Siti Hartinah was 24. The afternoon wedding was attended by many of Siti Hartinah’s family and friends. However, from the groom’s side, only two family members were able to attend. The evening’s reception was lit only by candlelight, as the city was on blackout alert in the event the Dutch would resume air raids.
Suharto stated that the marriage was initially not one of romantic love, but they did eventually grow to love each other devotedly, a type of marriage that was very common for many Javanese of that era. Three days after their wedding, the newly wedded couple moved to Yogyakarta in order for Suharto to return to his military duties.
It was characteristic of a military family’s life that three of their children were born when her husband was on duty and away from his family. Their first child was born when Suharto was fighting in a guerrilla war outside of Yogyakarta. Her husband did not see their first daughter for three months after her birth. Their second child, a son, was born while Suharto was serving in South Sulawesi. Another, their fifth child, was born when he was leading the Mandala Command for the Liberation of West Irian.