Kartini was born in a noble family on the island of Java in 1879, in the district of Jepara. The city and region of Jepara are situated on the north coast of Java. Kartini’s father was the regent of Jepara, Raden Mas Adipati Ario Samingun Sosroningrat. Her mother was Sosroningrat’s first wife. As was customary in Java among muslims, men often had more wives at the same time. This was a custom Kartini would object to later in life. In some respects, Sosroningrat was quite liberal and he allowed his four daughters to receive an education, similar to the one he provided for his sons. School did not extend beyond the primary years but Kartini and her sisters enjoyed more education than most Javanese girls. In 1903, she was married to another regent, Raden Adipati Djojoadiningrat, who already had three wives. Kartini died a few days after her first child was born, a boy called Raden Mas Singgih (later known as Soesalit), in 1904.

Amongst her many siblings, Kartini was closest to her sisters Kardinah, Roekmini, Kartinah and Soematri. And to her brother Raden Mas Kartono. Kartono came to the Netherlands for his studies, first in Delft and later in Leiden, where he graduated in 1908. He was known to be the first Indonesian student to study in Leiden. Such a privilege was not granted to Kartini. Unlike her brother, she had to remain indoors until her marriage. Besides socializing with her sisters, she was active as a designer of decorative arts. Details about this are scarce but Kartini probably designed woodcarvings, leaving the execution to craftsmen, made paintings and created batik cloths.