Celebrating Roehana Koeddoes

Google Dooles 07.11.2021 22:30  Date: November 8, 2021 Today’s Doodle celebrates Indonesian educator and journalist Roehana Koeddoes, a lifelong champion of women’s equality and freedom of expression. For her pioneering achievements, the Indonesian government named her a national hero on this day in 2019. Roehana Koeddoes was born Siti Roehana on December 20, 1884 in the small city of Koto Gadang, West Sumatra, Dutch East Indies . Raised during an era when Indonesian women were generally excluded from formal education, she developed a love for reading by consuming the pages of a local newspaper and sharing local news with her friends by the age of seven. In 1911, she formalized her career in education with the establishment of the first school in Indonesia specifically geared toward women. Founded in her hometown, Koeddoes’ school empowered women through a range of programs, from teachings in Arabic literacy to morality. She broadened her impact following a move to Bukittinggi, a larger West Sumatran city, by becoming one of Indonesia’s first women journalists. Here, she played a key role in the pioneering women’s newspaper “Soenting Melajoe.” As the first of its kind in Indonesia, this publication directly inspired the development of several other influential Indonesian women’s newspapers. Throughout her career, Koeddoes continued to pen articles that encouraged women to stand up for equality and fight against colonialism, with some achieving national recognition. Thanks in part to trailblazers like Koeddoes, many consider women in Indonesian journalism to be more critical and courageous than ever. Here’s to a pioneer whose impacts continue to shape Indonesian media today—Roehana Koeddoes! Early drafts of the Doodle Location: Tags: , , , , ,