She was born into an aristocratic Javanese family in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia).

In the meantime, there were technological advancements with the opening of the Suez Canal, the establishment of telegraph lines, and the installation of railroads, which brought the colony into the modern age.

The knowledge of the feminist movement in Holland began to spread to the traditional Indonesian culture.

[6][7] Her parents were Raden Adipati Sosroningrat,[8] a member of the priyayi (Javanese gentry), and Ngasirah, the daughter of a religious scholar.

Her parents were Nyai Haji Siti Aminah, who had a pilgrimage to Mecca, and Kyai Modirono, likely devout Muslims.

Her grandfather, Pangeran Ario Tjondronegoro IV, became a regent at the age of 25,[11] while Kartini's older brother, Sosrokartono, was an accomplished linguist.

[12] Kartini attended a Dutch school, which was her initiation to the Western world, beginning at the age of six.

[7] She was among the first Indonesian children to attend a European school and was treated poorly by teachers and fellow students.

[14] While at Dutch school, she also studied with Marie Ovink-Soer, the wife of another regent, who gave Kartini sewing lessons and taught her about feminist viewpoints.

[7] She remained in Dutch school until she was a teenager when she experienced the purdah-like "sheltered existence deemed appropriate to a young female noble",[7][15] from 1891 to 1895.

[16] Uncomfortable with the hierarchical dictates, Kartini was considerate of her subordinates and did not expect servants, commoners, or her younger siblings to treat her according to the cultural traditions.

[17] She was particularly annoyed when women berated or talked in a rebuking manner about young girls, the lowest on the hierarchical ladder.

[7] Kartini shared her opinions about feminism and her concern about traditional Javanese practices with her friends from Dutch school and Ovink-Soer.

[7] She believed that education was important to develop oneself and to prepare for motherhood and was against arranged marriages and polygamy.

[7] Beginning in 1896, Kartini was given permission by her father to occasionally leave the room in which she was secluded to visit a village of wood carvers, attend the consecration of a protestant church, and other special occasions.

Members of her family and noble Indonesian and Dutch people considered the unmarried Kartini's activities in the community a scandal.

[19] She decided that educational courses in character should be given to students due to the "deceit and hypocrisy" exhibited by Europeans and Asians at the ball.

[7] Kartini wrote letters extensively about matters important to her, including art, politics, education, public health, economic welfare, and literature.

[23] Kartini corresponded with Estelle (Stella) Zeehandelaar, who answered her pen-pal ad in the Daily Lily in 1900.

The book titled Door Duisternis tot Licht (From Dark Comes Light) was published in 1911.

[23] This publication was edited to exclude references to colonial figures, Islamic beliefs, and Javanese culture, and the English translation made further changes.

[32] Kartini coordinated efforts between a group of Indonesian artists and Europeans in the East and West association.

[30] Kartini believed that women were paramount in the process of improving the lives of Indonesian men and women, and because of that, she developed an education plan for girls that had the same academics and character-building instruction as for boys but also included hygiene, first aid, and money management.

[33] Kartini was introduced to Henri van Kol, a member of parliament, in August 1902, who offered to help her realize her plan to study teaching and first aid in the Netherlands.

[34] Kartini, with her husband's support, opened up a school for women in Rembang's Regency Office complex.