Getting To Know Bung Karno's Daughter From Ratna Dewi, Kartika Sari Dewi Soekarno

Kartika Sari Dewi (Instagram/@KartikaSariDewiFoundation)

Jakarta - The name Kartika Sari Dewi is known as the daughter of Soekarno's wife, Ratna Dewi Soekarno, who came from Japan. It all started when Naoko Nemoto alias Ratna Dewi Soekarno was 19 years old. It was the first time she met Sukarno in 1959.

According to Masashi Nishihara's The Japanese and Soekarnos Indonesia (1975), Soekarno often visited Japan to take care of war compensation issues.

On June 16, 1959, at a gala dinner at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, Sukarno met Naoko. There is an assumption that Naoko was a geisha at that time who was assigned to accompany Sukarno in-state events.

However, according to information from Rieke, geisha - which in Japanese means art worker - have various special skills as well as broad knowledge and insight. In this regard, Naoko has repeatedly denied the slanted opinion that she is a geisha. Naoko also denied the accusation that her meeting with Sukarno took place in a nightclub area.

"It's not true that I was introduced (to Sukarno) at the Akasaka Night Club. Impossible. He is a devout Muslim, does not drink alcohol, and in the morning at 5 o'clock he has to get up to pray," said Naoko.

On March 3, 1962, Bung Karno married Naoko. Naoko also embraced Islam. And as stated by Rhien Soemohadiwidjojo in the book Bung Karno Sang Singa Podium (2013), her name was changed to Ratna Sari Dewi. The result of this marriage was born Kartika Sari Dewi Soekarno.

About Kartika Sari Dewi Soekarno

Karina Kartika Sari Dewi Soekarno was the only daughter of the first president of Indonesia from Ratna Sari Dewi alias Naoko Nemoto, a Japanese woman whom Soekarno married in 1962. From that marriage, Karina was born on March 11, 1967, in Tokyo, Japan.

After President Soekarno died in 1970, Karina lived with her mother in Paris, France. As an adult, Karina Kartika worked as a TV journalist in Tokyo and later in an advertising agency in New York.

Even though she grew up abroad, Karina Kartika has a high sense of nationalism towards Indonesia. He proved this by establishing the KSF Kartika Soekarno Foundation which aims to maximize the teaching of children in Indonesia.

From her marriage to Frits Frederik Seegers, a bank manager on December 2, 2005, Karina Kartika had a son named Frederik Kiran Soekarno Seeger.

So far, the name Fatmawati is best known as Soekarno's wife. However, it turns out that there is another figure who accompanied the first President of the Republic of Indonesia to the end of his life.

Several rows of women's names were recorded in history as Bung Karno's wives. Starting from Oetari, Inggit Garnasih, Fatmawati, Hartini, Haryati, Kartini Manoppo, Ratna Sari Dewi, Yurike Sanger and Heldy Djafar.

At the end of his life, Bung Karno indicated that he had kidney failure and was treated in Vienna, Austria. And it was proven, it was in Hartin's lap that Bung Karno breathed his last at the Gatot Subroto Hospital on June 21, 1970.

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