Sri Owen

Sri Owen was a cooking teacher and food writer, based in London for most of her life. She was the author of the first English-language recipe book dedicated to the food of Indonesia, and is recognised as a leading authority on Indonesian cuisine.

Owen was born in Padang Panjang, West Sumatra, in what was then the Dutch East Indies. She was born to a Minangkabau family, in a town at the heart of that culture. She was the eldest of six children, all girls. Her childhood was disrupted by Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies; during World War II, millions of Indonesians died of famine, forced labour, and the disruption of society. Her parents worked as teachers, and the family lived briefly in Jakarta, before settling in Magelang, Central Java in 1949. Sri continued her education in Yogyakarta and studied English Literature at Gadjah Mada University. After graduating, she taught at the university and became head of its library; it was there in 1961 that she met Roger Owen, a British Oxford University graduate, who lectured in history in Indonesia for three years. Sri and Roger married in 1962.