Louisa Zecha | |
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Born | Francisca Louisa Zecha 1848 Batavia, Dutch East Indies |
Died | 1939 Sukabumi, Dutch East Indies | (aged 90–91)
Occupation | Community leader |
Known for | Matriarch of the Lauw-Sim-Zecha family |
Spouse(s) | Lauw Tek Lok, Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi Sim Keng Koen, Kapitein der Chinezen of Sukabumi |
Children | Christian Tjeng Soey Lauw-Zecha Maximiliaan Theodoor Tjeng Kiet Lauw-Zecha Louis Tjeng Bie Lauw-Zecha Emilia Joe Nio Lauw-Zecha Cornelia Sebastiana Gobang Nio Lauw-Zecha Sim Tjeng Bouw Betsy Lembor Nio Sim-Zecha Piet Tjeng Ho Sim-Zecha Chester Tjeng Soan Lauw-Sim-Zecha |
Relatives | Che Engku Chesterina (granddaughter) Adrian Lauw-Zecha (great-grandson) |
Francisca Louisa Zecha (1848–1939), usually known as Louisa Zecha, was a prominent, colonial Indonesian community leader and the Indo-Bohemian matriarch of the Lauw-Sim-Zecha family, part of the 'Cabang Atas' gentry of the Dutch East Indies (today Indonesia).[1][2][3][4] She attracted significant attention due to her controversial interracial marriages to two Peranakan Chinese magnates, Lauw Tek Lok, Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi and Sim Keng Koen, Kapitein der Chinezen of Sukabumi.[1][2] The posts of Kapitein and Luitenant der Chinezen were high-ranking civil administration positions in the Dutch colonial bureaucracy.[2][5] Zecha's community leadership, philanthropy, personal bravery and longevity earned her widespread respect and admiration in colonial society by the time she died in 1939.[6]