The Republic's First Female Martyr

EMMY Saelan's dream of being a nurse was cut short when she decided to take up arms against the Dutch, who had returned after Indonesia's declaration of independence. Emmy came from a family of educators and freedom fighters in Makassar, South Sulawesi. Robert Wolter Mongisidi--perhaps the most widely known martyr in Indonesia's history--disclosed his close relationship to Emmy when he was questioned by the Dutch police, before he was executed. When most women in that time period chose to wear dresses, Emmy preferred to wear pants. Her fair complexion earned her the title Daeng Kebo ('daeng' is an honorific for an older person in the Buginese language, while 'kebo' means white). She was the first woman to carry out a suicide attack, refusing to be captured or to surrender.