Raden Adjeng Kartini (21 April 1879 – 17 September 1904), also known as Raden Ayu Kartini, was a prominent Indonesian activist who advocated for women's rights and female education. She was born into an aristocratic Javanese family in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). After attending a Dutch-language primary school, she wanted to pursue further education, but Javanese women at the time were barred from higher education. She met various officials and influential people, including J.H. Abendanon, who was in charge of implementing the Dutch Ethical Policy. After her death, her sisters continued her advocacy of educating girls and women. Kartini's letters were published in a Dutch magazine and eventually, in 1911, as the works: Out of Darkness to Light, Women's Life in the Village, and Letters of a Javanese Princess. Her birthday is now celebrated in Indonesia as Kartini Day in her honor, as well as multiple schools being named after her and a fund being established in her name to finance the education of girls in Indonesia. She was interested in mysticism and opposed polygamy. Biography Kartini was born into an aristocratic Javanese family when Java was part of the Dutch colony of the Dutch East Indies. Kartini's father, Sosroningrat, became Bupati (or Regent) for the Regency of Jepara after originally being the district chief of Mayong. Her mother, Ngasirah, was the daughter of Madirono and a religious teacher at Telukawur. She was Sosroningrat's first wife but not his most important one. At this time, polygamy was a common practice among the nobility. Colonial regulations required regents to marry a member of the nobility. Since Ngasirah was not of sufficiently high nobility, Sosroningrat married a second time to Woerjan (Moerjam), a direct descendant of the Raja of Madura. After this second marriage, Kartini's father was elevated to Bupati of Jepara, replacing his second wife's father, Tjitrowikromo. Kartini was the fifth child and second-eldest daughter in a family of eleven, including half-siblings. She was born into a family with a strong intellectual tradition. Her grandfather, Pangeran Ario Tjondronegoro IV, became a regent at the age of 25, while Kartini's older brother, Sosrokartono, was an accomplished linguist. Kartini's family allowed her to attend school until she was 12 years old. Here, among other subjects, she learned Dutch, an unusual accomplishment for Javanese women at the time. After she turned 12 she was secluded (pingit) at home, which was a common