Ani Yudhoyono

Kristiani Herrawati was born on 6 July 1952 in Yogyakarta, to Lt. Gen. (ret.) Sarwo Edhie Wibowo and Sunarti Sri Hadiyah. She was the third child of seven siblings.[3]

In 1973, she became a medical student at the Christian University of Indonesia, but in the third year she followed her father who was appointed as an ambassador to South Korea. She subsequently married Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) in 1976.[4] Ani later continued studying at Terbuka University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science in 1998.[5]

Yudhoyono's political activities included her appointment as vice chairman of the Democratic Party. She campaigned for the successful election of her husband for President of the Republic of Indonesia in 2004. Prior to this, she was active in various women's social organizations during SBY's term as minister under Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri.[6]

Following her husband's election to the presidency, she organised polio immunisation campaigns[7] and Mobil Pintar (Smart Cars), where vans are filled with books for children to read.[8] In 2013, it surfaced that Australian intelligence had been tapping her mobile phone as part of a row between Indonesia and Australia.[9] Also in December that year, she was mentioned in a WikiLeaks diplomatic cable, which accused her of actively influencing her husband on political affairs.[10]

In 2007, a rare Papuan butterfly species was named after her. She was presented with a specimen of the butterfly Delias kristianiae which she donated to a museum.[11]

Yudhoyono was a gardening enthusiast with a particular fondness for orchids,[6] and as part of diplomatic tradition, an orchid variety in Singapore is named after her.[12] On her 61st birthday, she launched two books on the botanic collection at the Cipanas Palace and multiple Indonesian Botanical Gardens, in which some of her photographs were included.[13]

Yudhoyono was an avid photographer. Her photography works had made her into a popular, and unlikely, Instagram star for Indonesians. She had attracted more than 6.4 million Instagram followers at the time of her death in June 2019.[1]

Yudhoyono died of leukemia on the morning of 1 June 2019, after undergoing treatment for nearly four months in the National University Hospital, Singapore. She was 66 years old.[14][15]

Her remains were flown from Paya Lebar Air Base, Singapore to Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, East Jakarta on the same evening.[1] Funeral prayers were held at her private home in Cikeas, West Java, the following day, before burial at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South Jakarta that afternoon.[1]