15-04-2025

UNESCO has recognized a large collection of handwritten letters and the archive of Raden Ajeng Kartini (1879-1904) as documentary world heritage. Kartini, an Indonesian women's rights advocate, opposed gender inequality in feudal Javanese society, including forced marriages, polygamy and lack of education for women.

The letters and the archive are held in the collections of Leiden University Libraries (326 letters and related items), the National Archives in The Hague (9 items) and the National Archives of Indonesia (9 items).

The Leiden Kartini collection, which is owned by the Vereniging KITLV, has been managed by the Leiden University Libraries since 2014. 

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