Nationalist Supeni dies at 86
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Supeni, a veteran politician and former deputy foreign minister who has long been linked to the erstwhile Indonesian National Party (PNI), died at the age of 86 on Friday morning at the Pelni Petamburan hospital after battling complications following a stroke.
She is survived by her four children -- Sonny Sumarsono, 65, Puji Kusumaningtyas, 60, Ardi Saputro, 55, and Agus Supartono, 52.
Supeni was one of the closest aides of founding president Sukarno, the father of Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Born in Tuban, East Java, on August 17, 1917, Supeni witnessed firsthand, the struggle for independence and the government of five presidents -- Sukarno from 1945 to 1967, Soeharto from 1967 to 1998, B.J. Habibie from 1998 to 1999, Abdurrahman Wahid from 1999 to 2001 and Megawati from 2001 until today.
After finishing school in Tuban, she moved to Blitar, where she became a political activist.
Supeni became active in political organizations such as the Indonesian Women's Union (Perwari) and the Indonesian Women's Congress (Kowani) in the 1940s.
The Dutch administration expelled Supeni from school, fearing that her political views could influence others to rebel.
Supeni was know to be very idealistic and rejected an offer by the Dutch to work at a government forestry office.
"During the Dutch colonial era, PNI struggled for independence. In the earlier days after independence, PNI struggled to maintain independence," she once said.
Supeni was appointed ambassador-at-large in 1960 and deputy foreign minister in 1964.
She was also a member of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) representing the PNI in 1972.
Under president Soeharto, the PNI was forced to disband and merge others to create the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
On Oct. 26, 1996, Supeni revived the PNI which she declared in June 1998 after Soeharto's downfall. Her party, however, was popularly known as PNI Supeni because several political parties decided to call themselves PNI.
Supeni was married to Akhmad Natakusumah, a member of the Sundanese royal family, who died in 1999.