Raden Ayu Siti Hartinah 23 August 1923 – 28 April 1996 was the wife of the second Indonesian president, Suharto and former First Lady of Indonesia from 1967 until 1996. She is usually known as Ibu Tien to Indonesians, but is also known as Siti Hartinah Soeharto (the difference in spelling is due to Dutch Colonial era spelling).
Madame Suharto was also widely acknowledged to be a close confidant and political advisor to Suharto.
Biography
Siti Hartinah was distantly related to the Mangkunegaran Royal household. Some commentators state that her honorific title of Raden Ayu was reserved only for faithful commoner courtiers or servants (abdi dalem) of the Mangkunegaran court.
She married Suharto on 26 December 1947 in Surakarta using a traditional Javanese ceremony. The Javanese custom was for the bride’s family to pay the bulk of the wedding costs. Suharto apparently drove there in a battered De Soto sedan. Suharto stated that the marriage was initially not one of romantic love, but they did eventually grow to love each other devotedly, a type of marriage that was very common for many Javanese of that era. Three days after their marriage, Siti Hartinah was taken by Suharto to live in his Yogyakarta house at Jalan Merbabu 2.
Her marriage was initiated by Suharto’s foster mother at the time, Ibu (Mrs) Prawirowiharjo, who sought an audience with her mother. Ibu Prawirowiharjo cultivated a close relationship with her mother, a family in Suharto’s own words as “well regarded and respected in the city of Solo”
Siti Hartinah became known in Indonesia as “Madame Tien”. Many Javanese saw her as one of the major causes of Suharto’s own power.
Siti Hartinah is interred beside her husband in the Astana Giribangun mausoleum complex in Karanganyar Regency, Central Java.
Family
Siti Hartinah and Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld in 1971
Suharto and Siti Hartinah had six children, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana (Tutut), Sigit Harjojudanto (Sigit), Bambang Trihatmodjo (Bambang), Siti Hediati (Titiek), Hutomo Mandala Putra (Tommy) and Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih (Mamiek), and 11 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
Honours
As the First Lady of Indonesia (1967-1996), she has received several civilian and military Star Decorations, namely:
Indonesia:
Star of the Republic of Indonesia, 2nd Class (Indonesian: Bintang Republik Indonesia Adipradana) (10 March 1973)
Guerrilla Star (Indonesian: Bintang Gerilya)
Star of Culture Parama Dharma (Indonesian: Bintang Budaya Parama Dharma) (17 June 1992)
Foreign honours
Brunei:
Recipient of the Most Esteemed Family Order of Laila Utama (1988)
Cambodia:
Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sowathara (1968)
Malaysia:
Honorary Recipient of the Most Exalted Order of the Crown of the Realm (1988)
Philippines:
Grand Collar of the Order of the Golden Heart (1968)
Thailand:
Dame Grand Cross of the Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao (1970)
Austria:
Grand Star (Groß-Stern) of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (1973)
Netherlands:
Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (1970)
Ethiopian Empire:
Grand Cordon and Collar of the Order of the Queen of Sheba (1968)
Japan:
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown (1968)
Germany:
Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Kuwait:
First Class of the Order of Kuwait (1977)
South Korea:
Recipient of the Grand Order of Mugunghwa (1981)
Egypt:
Supreme Class of the Order of the Virtues (Nishan al-Kamal) (1977)
France:
Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (Ordre national du Mérite)
Romania:
The First Class of the Orders of Tudor Vladimirescu (1982)
Spain:
Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (1980)
Syria:
Member 1st Class of the Order of the Umayyads (1977)
Venezuela:
Grand Cordon with Collar of the Order of the Liberator (1988)
Jordan:
Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance (1986)
Yugoslavia:
Yugoslav Star with Sash of the Order of the Yugoslav Star (1975)