Ms. Sastrowardoyo is the daughter and only child of the late Ariawan Sastrowardoyo (1955-1995) and Dewi Parwati Sastrowardoyo (née Setyorini). Her paternal grandparents are Dr. Sumarsono Sastrowardoyo, a retired physician and surgeon (and author of the memoir Kembali ke Uteran (Return to Uteran)), and the late Ina Sastrowardoyo.
She is the niece of Marina Joesoef, an artist; Dr. Aswin W. Sastrowardoyo, currently a physician and formerly guitarist and singer with Chaseiro, a music group of the 1970s and 80s; and Lisa Damayanti Sastrowardoyo.
She is also the grand-niece of, among others, Sunario (1902-1997), Indonesia's minister of foreign affairs from 1953 to 1956; Dra. Sukanti Suryochondro, a former instructor in women's studies at the University of Indonesia; and Subagio Sastrowardoyo (1924-1995), a noted poet and literary critic.
A screenplay based on Kembali ke Uteran is in the works, with plans for Ms. Sastrowardoyo to play her own great-grandmother in the film adaptation.Ms. Sastrowardoyo's family name is derived from sastra (Sanskrit, writings) and wardaya (Sanskrit, heart), so literally means "writings of the heart."
Her paternal great-grandfather, Sutejo Sastrowardoyo, traced the family's ancestry back to 15th century Java.
