Two Unknown Letters from the Kartini Family to M.J. de Goeje

Abstract

The present article presents the English translation of two unknown Dutch letters from Sosro Kartono and Roekmini, the older brother and half-sister of the famous Kartini, to the Leiden Professor of Arabic M.J. de Goeje. The letters testify to the state of shock in which the family was after the untimely death of Kartini on 17 September 1904 and the passing of her father and head of the family, Raden Mas Adipati Ario Sosroningrat, on 16 January 1905. Moreover, both letters shed more light on Kartono’s study sojourn in Leiden.