Kartini was born in 1879 in Jepara, Java and was the fifth of eleven siblings. She came from aristocratic descent through her father, who was a nobleman and descendant of the Majapahit Kingdom, but her mother was of common descent. Kartini received a Dutch education until age 12 but was then required to stay home per Javanese custom. However, she continued educating herself by reading European books and corresponding with friends in the Netherlands. In 1903 she married but continued her studies and learning. She noticed differences between how European and Indonesian women lived and sought to change Indonesian women's lives, opening the first school for women in Indonesia in 1912. Kartini died in 1904 at age