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Az alakuló Noképzo-Egyesület programmja.1867; Alapszabály. 1868

(Fővárosi Szabó Ervin Könyvtár [Metropolitan Ervin Szabo Library], Budapest, Hungary), in Veres Pálné Beniczky Hermin élete és működése. Hálás tisztelete jeléül kiadta: az Országos Nőképző-Egyesület [Life and Activity of Mrs. Pál Veres Hermin Beniczky, Published As a Token of Grateful Adoration by the National Association for Women's Education], edited by Mrs. József Rudnay and Mrs. Gyula Szigethy. (Budapest: Az Atheneum irod. és nyomdai r.-társulat könyvnyomdája, 1902). pp. 702-705 (1902), 4 page(s)

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TITLE: Program of the Forming Association for Women's Education, 1867; and the Charter, 1868, in Life and Activity of Mrs. Pál Veres Hermin Beniczky, Published as a Token of Grateful Adoration by the National Association for Women's Education, 702-705. DESCRIPTION: This document is one of nine extracts from the 1902 publication Life and Activity of Mrs. Pál Veres Hermin Beniczky, edited by Mrs. József Rudnay and Mrs. Gyula Szigethy. The book c... TITLE: Program of the Forming Association for Women's Education, 1867; and the Charter, 1868, in Life and Activity of Mrs. Pál Veres Hermin Beniczky, Published as a Token of Grateful Adoration by the National Association for Women's Education, 702-705. DESCRIPTION: This document is one of nine extracts from the 1902 publication Life and Activity of Mrs. Pál Veres Hermin Beniczky, edited by Mrs. József Rudnay and Mrs. Gyula Szigethy. The book contains an extensive account of the life and activities of Beniczky and reprints of many original documents. Hermin Beniczky, usually remembered as Mrs. Pál Veres (1815-1895), was a pioneer of Hungarian women’s education, founder in 1868 of the National Association for Women’s Education (Országos Nőképző-Egyesület) and its long-term President, and co-founder in 1869 of the first high school for girls in Hungary. See the biographical summary of her in Krassimira Daskalova, Anna Loutfi, and Francisca de Haan, A Biographical Dictionary of Women’s Movements and Feminisms: Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe, 19th and 20th Centuries (Budapest: Central European University Press, 2006), 54-57. The extracts selected include a collection of writings dating from the period 1865–69. These include Beniczky’s calls from 1865 and 1867, her treatise from 1868 and documents of her lobbying with the governing party from 1868–69, when she submitted a petition signed by nine thousand women to the Hungarian parliament, requesting a law on higher women’s schools with public funding. In her writings, Beniczky condemned the exclusive concern for languages and etiquette in the upbringing of upper-class girls and argued that a more meaningful education would also help secure a livelihood for unmarried and widowed women. Taking note of a general shift from physical towards intellectual work, she set out a broad range of possible female careers. However, she kept distancing herself from any more far-reaching concept of women’s emancipation. There is also a portrait of Beniczky. Another selection from Beniczky’s writings from the period 1869 to 1883, includes opening speeches from the Association’s general assembly meetings, letters, papers and addresses. The initiative to finance higher women’s schools from public funds failed in lack of political backing. The central school, however, got under way in 1869 with Hungarian as the sole language of instruction, and although Beniczky complained about high attrition rates, it soon launched a teacher training track as well. Finally, a selection from the documents from the period 1869–94 include the statutes of the National Association, the first curriculum of the central school for the two lower grades, a report on its opening, a call by the Association to celebrate the royal couple’s 25 year coronation jubilee (Francis Joseph was Emperor of Austria since 1848 but had been crowned King of Hungary only in 1867), its congratulatory letter sent on the same occasion, and contributions to the 25 year jubilee of the National Association itself in 1893. The curriculum is remarkable for giving a close glimpse at Beniczky’s ambitious vision of women’s education. Girls of thirteen to fourteen years of age in the general track studied all of the following subjects: art history, aesthetics, pedagogy, hygienic, Hungarian, German and French, arithmetic, drawing, thinking, ethics, Hungarian cultural history and civics, Hungarian literary history and chemistry applied to the household. A few letters received by Mrs. Veres, writings about her, and writings which address her activities and other important events in relation to women’s education, such as for instance the speech by the Minister for education, Gyula Wlassics, on the occasion of the opening of the National Association’s girls’ gymnasium in 1896, are also included. In 1906 a statue was erected in Budapest depicturing Mrs. Veres, wearing a Hungarian national costume. Today, the statue is placed at the beginning of Mrs. Pál Veres Street (Veres Pálné utca) in the inner city of the Hungarian capital. Its pedestal carries the inscription “Mrs. Pál Veres Hermin Beniczky. She fought for the cause that Woman with her education and her soul may become a factor/agent (tényező) of national welfare.” For more on the sculpture, see Veres Pálné, Beniczky Hermin szobra [The Sculpture of Mrs. Pál Veres Hermin Beniczky] (Budapest, 1906). KEYWORDS: Women and Institutions of Empire; Dynasty; Elisabeth Queen of Hungary and Empress of Austria; Women and Nation within Empire; Women and Nation-Building; Women and National Languages; National Identity; Empire Silenced; Women and Education; Education as a Source of Women’s Emancipation; Social Reform and Political Activism; Political Parties and Other Male-Dominated Organizations; Habsburg Empire; Austria; Hungary Show more Show less

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The Challenge of Multinational Empire for the International Women's Movement: The Habsburg Monarchy and the Development of Feminist Inter/na...

written by Susan Zimmermann, fl. 2012, in Globalizing Feminisms, 1789-1945, edited by Karen Offen. (London: Routledge, 2010), pp. 153-69, 367-73 (2010), 24 page(s)

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The Commonweal: A Journal of National Reform for God, Crown and Country, Vol. I, No. 19, 8 May 1914

edited by Annie Besant, 1847-1933, in The Commonweal: A Journal of National Reform for God, Crown and Country, Vol. 1, No. 19, May 8, 1914 (Chennai, Tamil Nadu: Ganesh & Co., 1914), 28 page(s)

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Cuvantul de deschidere rostit de doamna Maria B. Baiulescu, presedinta Uniunii Femeilor Romane din Brasov la I-ul Congres al Reuniunilor de...

written by Maria Baiulescu, 1860-1941 ("George Baritiu" Library, Brasov, Romania, MS 1954, f. 36, "George Baritiu" County Library Special Collections) (1913) , 1 page(s)

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TITLE: Opening Speech Given by Mrs. Maria B. Baiulescu, President of the Union of Romanian Women in Brasov to the Ist Congress of the Women's Reunions held in Brasov between 3-5 June 1913. DESCRIPTION: Typed draft of speech by Maria Baiulescu on the occasion of the first congress of the Union of Romanian Women in Hungary. Maria Baiulescu (1860-1941) was an author, Romanian nationalist and civic organizer. She was the president of the Reunion of R... TITLE: Opening Speech Given by Mrs. Maria B. Baiulescu, President of the Union of Romanian Women in Brasov to the Ist Congress of the Women's Reunions held in Brasov between 3-5 June 1913. DESCRIPTION: Typed draft of speech by Maria Baiulescu on the occasion of the first congress of the Union of Romanian Women in Hungary. Maria Baiulescu (1860-1941) was an author, Romanian nationalist and civic organizer. She was the president of the Reunion of Romanian Women in Brasov/Brasso/Kronstadt (1908-1935), the President of the Union of Romanian Women (a federation of Transylvanian women’s associations) (1913-1935), and leader of ASTRA association’s Biopolitical Section, founded in 1927. A supporter of women’s social involvement, she advocated what has been termed “republican motherhood,” which focused on women’s roles as nurturers and educators of the nation. See, Krassimira Daskalova, Anna Loutfi, and Francisca de Haan, A Biographical Dictionary of Women’s Movements and Feminisms: Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe, 19th and 20th Centuries (Budapest: Central European University Press, 2006), 48-50. Baiulescu’s personal archives are housed by the "George Baritiu" County Library Brasov (Romania), Special Collections Unit. The Union of Romanian Women reunited approximatively half of the 60 independent Romanian women’s “Reunions” that had appeared in Transylvania since the 1850s. ¶ The speech laid out the purpose of a Union with “centralized power” to direct the activities of the adhering women’s Reunions in Hungary. The document also argued that the Union would direct the activities of women’s Reunions that would form in the future. The goals of the Union outlined by Baiulescu were promoting girls’ education, preserving peasant women’s handicraft traditions, raising “hardworking and thrifty wives and mothers,” promoting charitability among women, and creating a unified orphanage. Finally, according to Baiulescu, “through her disinterested social work woman is becoming an important factor even in states’ lives as only she is capable to resolve somewhat the humanitarian problem.” At first sight, the speech reaffirms and unifies the existing areas of activity of the Union’s members and places them within the politically uncontroversial frame of “republican motherhood.” However, concerning the context of this speech, the Romanian Women’s Union founding congress was scheduled to coincide with the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) Congress in Budapest (3-5 June 1913). Whereas Saxon and Hungarian women’s associations in Transylvania were visible participants at the IWSA Congress, the newly-formed Union abstained from organized participation. The abstention was due to a “silenced or veiled” (but, nevertheless, present) suffrage politics pursued by the Transylvanian Romanian women’s movement in Hungary, one that may have been carried aut through the Romanian National Party’s advocating universal suffrage in the Hungarian Parliament, largely because of governemntal restrictions against minorities associational life in the Kingdom of Hungary ¶ This document points to the existence of the Union of Romanian Women in Hungary and the tendencies towards centralization of disparate women’s associations, occurring by the 1910s. Secondly, Baiulescu’s speech reveals the rhetoric that masked the transnational connections and internationally convergent politics some politically-minded Transylvanian Romanian women, although, perhaps, not Maria Baiulescu herself, were pursuing at the time. KEYWORDS: Women Interacting with Women, Social Movements, and Other Actors Beyond Empire; Women and Nation within Empire; Relations Between Women of Different Nationalities; Women and Nation-Building; Women and Relationship Between Nations in the Empire; Women and Struggle Between Nations in the Empire; National Identity; Social Reform and Political Activism; Welfare Movements; Multi-Ethnic Participation in Social Movements; Political Parties and Other Male Dominated Organizations; Political and Human Rights; Human Rights, Suffrage; Women and Education; Gendered Education; Work and Class Identity; Sexual Division of Labor; Habsburg Empire; Kingdom of Hungary; International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA). Show more Show less

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Egy percz

written by Marija Jurić Zagorka, 1873-1957, in Obzor, no. 251, October 31, 1896, p. NA (1896), 2 page(s)

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TITLE: One Minute. DESCRIPTION: Marija Jurić Zagorka (1873-1956) was Croatian feminist, the first female political journalist, editor of women’s magazines, and the most popular Croatian writer. In this short newspaper article, the author, identified as (female) patriot, describes her train travel from the region of Syrmia to Zagreb. She criticizes the use of Hungarian and German languages on railways, since passengers in Syrmia and Slavonia, m... TITLE: One Minute. DESCRIPTION: Marija Jurić Zagorka (1873-1956) was Croatian feminist, the first female political journalist, editor of women’s magazines, and the most popular Croatian writer. In this short newspaper article, the author, identified as (female) patriot, describes her train travel from the region of Syrmia to Zagreb. She criticizes the use of Hungarian and German languages on railways, since passengers in Syrmia and Slavonia, mostly peasants, do not understand the announcements and often miss their destination where the train stops only for a minute (“egypercz” in Hungarian). Also referring to the introduction of Hungarian language in gymnasia in Croatia, the author ends the article with the critique of pro-Croatian politicians who fight among themselves for leadership, while the pro-Hungarian party accommodates “the descendants of Arpad.” This article, one of the firsts that Marija Jurić Zagorka published in the daily Obzor in 1896, marks the beginning of her career as the first female political journalist in Croatia. It attracted the attention of the influential Croatian bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer, who then helped Jurić to get the position of journalist in charge of Hungarian politics in Obzor, where she would work until the end of the First World War. It demonstrates well her life-long interest in national issues, mainstream politics (a rarity among Croatian women active in the public space), and her concern for working classes. The article also presents the every day experience of the railways as an imperial institution. Keywords: Women and Institutions of Empire; Women and Practices/Cultures of Empire; Women and Nation within Empire; Women and National Languages; Women Challenging Empire; Political and Human Rights; Nationality Rights; Social Reform and Political Activism; Political Parties and Other Male Dominated Organizations; Work and Class Identity; Class Discrimination; Habsburg Empire Show more Show less

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Elena Baiulescu and Elena Muresianu to Emilia Dr. Rațiu, Brașov, 5/16 June 1894

written by Elena Baiulescu, fl. 1860 and Elena Mureşianu, 1862-1924 (Romania. Arhivele Nationale. Arhivele Nationale Istorice Centrale Bucharest, 734/1905, Fond 1246 Personal Fond Dr. Ioan Ratiu, f.1) (16 June 1894) , 4 page(s)

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TITLE: Elena Baiulescu and Elena Muresianu to Emilia Dr. Rațiu, Brașov, 5/16 June 1894. DESCRIPTION: Romanian-language letter on custom-made stationery with “Everything for the Nation” slogan in one corner, addressed to Emilia Rațiu and signed by Elena Baiulescu and Elena Muresianu in the name of the National Committee of Romanian Women. Emilia Rațiu (1846-1929) was a Transylvanian Romanian nationalist activist and a frequent contributor... TITLE: Elena Baiulescu and Elena Muresianu to Emilia Dr. Rațiu, Brașov, 5/16 June 1894. DESCRIPTION: Romanian-language letter on custom-made stationery with “Everything for the Nation” slogan in one corner, addressed to Emilia Rațiu and signed by Elena Baiulescu and Elena Muresianu in the name of the National Committee of Romanian Women. Emilia Rațiu (1846-1929) was a Transylvanian Romanian nationalist activist and a frequent contributor to Familia magazine. She was married to Romanian National Party leader Ioan Rațiu. She was president of the Reunion of Romanian Women in the town of Turda/Torda/Thorenburg, founder of the Women’s Reading Society in the same town in 1873, and an initiator of several other social reform and welfare activities. She led international mobilization efforts in favor of the claims of Transylvanian Romanians within Austria-Hungary, especially following the arrest of Ioan Rațiu in 1894. Ioan Rațiu was arrested following his condemnation for anti-state activity through the distribution of a manifesto on Transylvanian autonomy and linguistic rights in the “Memorandum trial.” Elena Muresianu (1862-1924) was an artist and publicist from Brașov/Brassó/Kronstadt, active in the Women’s Reunion in the city and a founding member of the National Committee of Romanian Women. A graduate of the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts (1884-1888), she married into the Muresianu family who published Gazeta Transilvaniei [The Transylvanian Gazette], one of the most significant Romanian-language publications in the region. Between 1909 and 1911, Elena Muresianu was the sole administrator of the newspaper and associated typography, having always been heavily involved in the running of the business. Elena Baiulescu was President of the Reunion of Romanian Women in Brașov/Brassó/Kronstadt in the 1890s and President of the National Committee of Romanian Women, from 1894 to 1896. She was married to Orthodox Archpriest (Protopop) Bartolomeu Baiulescu and the mother to Maria Baiulescu, who would become in the 1900s a visible spokeswoman for socially active women and the Transylvanian Romanian nationalist cause. The National Committee of Romanian Women was described as a “secret committee” of Romanian women founded in Brașov/Brassó/Hermannstadt in 1894 by Elena Muresianu, acting as Secretary, and Elena Baiulescu, as President. The Committee gathered signatures from women all around Transylvania to support the Transylvanian politicians condemned in the Memorandum trial. According to a 1934 article written by a member of the Committee, the Committee gathered “thousands upon thousands” of signatures for letters sent to MPs in Italy and journalists in France, thanking them for the support shown to the “Romanian national cause.” See, Maria Baiulescu, “Participrea femeilor romane din Ardeal in procesul Memorandumului in _Universul_(Bucharest) [The Participation of Romanian Women from Transylvania in the Memorandum Trial in _The Universe_(Bucharest)]” (Newspaper clipping, Bucharest, June 19, 1934), MS 1954, f. 30, “George Baritiu” County Library Special Collections, “George Baritiu” County Library Brasov, Special Collections Unit. The Committee minted decorative medals with the inscription “Everything for the Nation.” The “Memorandum trial” involved the 1894 condemnation of several prominent Transylvanian members of the Romanian National Party for publishing and distributing a manifesto critical of Hungarian centralism but not of the Emperor. The event garnered international attention and significant popular support in Transylvania and other territories inhabited by Romanians. ¶ This letter asks for Rațiu’s consent for writing letters to foreign supporters of the tried Memorandum politicians “not only [in the name of women from Brașov], but also in the name of all Romanian women from Transylvania and Hungary.” The senders consider the issue an important one and mention that they have written “to Romanian ladies from the different towns in Transylvania thus asking for their consent.” The senders mention writing a planned first thank-you letter to Italian MP Imbriani. ¶ This document provides evidence about the formation and mobilization strategies of the National Committee of Romanian Women. It captures a moment in which women involved in the nationalist cause sought to transform gender solidarities forged on municipal bases into the collective solidarity of all “Romanian women from Transylvania and Hungary.” The process mirrors similar developments in the rest of Austria-Hungary at the time. The 1880s were marked by middle-class municipal activism. This development was overshadowed (or in this case, merged) in 1890 by the rise of nationalist, mass mobilization, a political phenomenon that was, in fact, difficult to sustain and had somewhat waned by the early 1900s. In relation to the politics of gendered mobilization, the emphasis on and the use of the language of consent also makes this document an interesting one; it shows how liberal doctrines on contract and consent, assumed to be governing associations and individuals, were part of Transylvanian women’s activism. KEYWORDS: Women and Practices/ Cultures of Empire; Municipal Activism; Women Interacting with Women, Social Movements, and Other Actors Beyond Empire; Women and Nation within Empire; Women and Nation-Building; Women and Struggle Between Nations in the Empire; Women Challenging Empire; Social Reform and Political Activism; Political Parties and Other Male Dominated Organizations; Socialism; Political and Human Rights; Habsburg Empire; Transylvania; Comitetul Național al Femeilor Române/National Committee of Romanian Women; Memorandum; Municipal Activism; Mobilization; Networks; k. k. Kunstgewerbeschule/ Vienna School of Arts and Crafts. Show more Show less

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Indreptatire politica femeilor!

written by Eleonora Lemény, 1885-1954, in Adevarul-Glasul Poporulu, December 2, 1918, p. NA (1918), 2 page(s)

TITLE: Legitimate Women's Policy! DESCRIPTION: This brief newspaper article by Eleonora Lemény celebrates Art. III.3 of the 1918 Resolution proclaiming the union of Transylvania with the Kingdom of Romania. The article was published in the social-democratic newspaper Adevarul-Glasul Poporului. Eleonora Lemény (1...

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Jeanne del Homme to Emilia Dr. Rațiu, London, 1894 (3)

written by Jeanne del Homme, fl. 1894 (Romania. Arhivele Nationale. Arhivele Nationale Istorice Centrale Bucharest, 830/1894, ff. 1-4) (1894) , 8 page(s)

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TITLE: Jeanne del Homme to Emilia Dr. Rațiu, London, 1894 (3). DESCRIPTION: This letter is one of three written by Jeanne del Homme, in French, to Emilia Rațiu in 1894. The year has been determined based on content. Jeanne del Homme was a French teacher, based in Oxford and then in Le Mans. She was instrumental in publicizing the “Memorandum trial” occurring in Transylvania in 1894 among English progressive liberals. Emilia Rațiu (1846-192... TITLE: Jeanne del Homme to Emilia Dr. Rațiu, London, 1894 (3). DESCRIPTION: This letter is one of three written by Jeanne del Homme, in French, to Emilia Rațiu in 1894. The year has been determined based on content. Jeanne del Homme was a French teacher, based in Oxford and then in Le Mans. She was instrumental in publicizing the “Memorandum trial” occurring in Transylvania in 1894 among English progressive liberals. Emilia Rațiu (1846-1929) was a Transylvanian Romanian nationalist activist and a frequent contributor to Familia magazine. She was married to Romanian National Party leader Ioan Rațiu. She was president of the Reunion of Romanian Women in the town of Turda/Torda/Thorenburg, founder of the Women’s Reading Society in the same town in 1873, and an initiator of several other social reform and welfare activities. She led international mobilization efforts in favor of the claims of Transylvanian Romanians within Austria-Hungary, especially following the arrest of Ioan Rațiu in 1894. Ioan Rațiu was arrested following his condemnation for anti-state activity through the distribution of a manifesto on Transylvanian autonomy and linguistic rights in the “Memorandum trial” mentioned in the letter. ¶ This letter thanks Emilia Rațiu for the beautifully-embroidered chemisette and bolero she had sent, mentions friends’ admiration for the clothes’ graceful shapes and harmonious colors, and asks Rațiu to thank everyone who worked on the clothing. Del Homme informs Rațiu that she spoke at length to three Members of Parliament on the “Romanian Question”, trying to persuade them that “a word said in Parliament” would greatly help Rațiu’s work. Del Homme reports that MPs were sympathetic and requested further documents on the issue. Del Homme writes that she sent several reports on the Memorandum trial happening in Cluj/Kolosvàr/Klausenburg to English newspapers but that the press there was “hesitant” to publish an account, for “fear of inciting polemics.” ¶ This letter is one among several exchanged in 1894 by Emilia Rațiu and progressive Englishwomen. It sheds light on the merging of transnational cultural interaction (i.e., sending parts of a folk costume as a gift) with transnational political activism and lobbying. Among others, this mix was made possible by the incorporation into nationalists’ self-definition of a particularly Austro-Hungarian ethnographic gaze, which emphasized both ethnic diversity and difference. The document also underscores women’s involvement in England in lobbying Parliament on behalf of the rights of dominated nations or nationalities. It points to the cautious attitude of English MPs as well as the English press towards what was being presented as the “Romanian Question.” KEYWORDS: Women and Practices/ Cultures of Empire; Imperial Identity; Women Interacting with Women, Social Movements, and Other Actors Beyond Empire; Peace and War, International Governance, and International Law; Women and International Relations; Empire and Internationalism; Social Reform and Political Activism; Political Parties and Other Male Dominated Organizations; Political and Human Rights; Nationality Rights; Habsburg Empire; Kingdom of Hungary; Transylvania; Networks; Mobilization; Lobbying; Cultural Diplomacy; Press. Show more Show less

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Jugendfürsorg, ca. 1916

written by Helene Schiel, fl. 1916 (Bibliothek, Siebenbürgen-Institut, Universität Heidelberg) (Brașov, Brașov County: Freien Frauenvereinigung für soziale Bildung in Kronstadt, 1916), 38 page(s)

TITLE: Youth Care, ca. 1916. DESCRIPTION: Originally a conference lecture from 1916. Offprint from the Kronstädter Zeitung, re-published by the Free Women’s Association for Social Education (Freie Frauenvereinigung für soziale Bildung) in Kronstadt/Brașov/Brassó. In her lecture, Helene Schiel illustrates the...

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Legelso tanterv. 1869

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TITLE: The First Curriculum: 1869, in Life and Activity of Mrs. Pál Veres Hermin Beniczky, Published as a Token of Grateful Adoration by the National Association for Women's Education, pp. 705-707. DESCRIPTION: This document is one of nine extracts from the 1902 publication Life and Activity of Mrs. Pál Veres Hermin Beniczky, edited by Mrs. József Rudnay and Mrs. Gyula Szigethy. The book contains an extensive account of the life and activities... TITLE: The First Curriculum: 1869, in Life and Activity of Mrs. Pál Veres Hermin Beniczky, Published as a Token of Grateful Adoration by the National Association for Women's Education, pp. 705-707. DESCRIPTION: This document is one of nine extracts from the 1902 publication Life and Activity of Mrs. Pál Veres Hermin Beniczky, edited by Mrs. József Rudnay and Mrs. Gyula Szigethy. The book contains an extensive account of the life and activities of Beniczky and reprints of many original documents. Hermin Beniczky, usually remembered as Mrs. Pál Veres (1815-1895), was a pioneer of Hungarian women’s education, founder in 1868 of the National Association for Women’s Education (Országos Nőképző-Egyesület) and its long-term President, and co-founder in 1869 of the first high school for girls in Hungary. See the biographical summary of her in Krassimira Daskalova, Anna Loutfi, and Francisca de Haan, A Biographical Dictionary of Women’s Movements and Feminisms: Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe, 19th and 20th Centuries (Budapest: Central European University Press, 2006), 54-57. The extracts selected include a collection of writings dating from the period 1865–69. These include Beniczky’s calls from 1865 and 1867, her treatise from 1868 and documents of her lobbying with the governing party from 1868–69, when she submitted a petition signed by nine thousand women to the Hungarian parliament, requesting a law on higher women’s schools with public funding. In her writings, Beniczky condemned the exclusive concern for languages and etiquette in the upbringing of upper-class girls and argued that a more meaningful education would also help secure a livelihood for unmarried and widowed women. Taking note of a general shift from physical towards intellectual work, she set out a broad range of possible female careers. However, she kept distancing herself from any more far-reaching concept of women’s emancipation. There is also a portrait of Beniczky. Another selection from Beniczky’s writings from the period 1869 to 1883, includes opening speeches from the Association’s general assembly meetings, letters, papers and addresses. The initiative to finance higher women’s schools from public funds failed in lack of political backing. The central school, however, got under way in 1869 with Hungarian as the sole language of instruction, and although Beniczky complained about high attrition rates, it soon launched a teacher training track as well. Finally, a selection from the documents from the period 1869–94 include the statutes of the National Association, the first curriculum of the central school for the two lower grades, a report on its opening, a call by the Association to celebrate the royal couple’s 25 year coronation jubilee (Francis Joseph was Emperor of Austria since 1848 but had been crowned King of Hungary only in 1867), its congratulatory letter sent on the same occasion, and contributions to the 25 year jubilee of the National Association itself in 1893. The curriculum is remarkable for giving a close glimpse at Beniczky’s ambitious vision of women’s education. Girls of thirteen to fourteen years of age in the general track studied all of the following subjects: art history, aesthetics, pedagogy, hygienic, Hungarian, German and French, arithmetic, drawing, thinking, ethics, Hungarian cultural history and civics, Hungarian literary history and chemistry applied to the household. A few letters received by Mrs. Veres, writings about her, and writings which address her activities and other important events in relation to women’s education, such as for instance the speech by the Minister for education, Gyula Wlassics, on the occasion of the opening of the National Association’s girls’ gymnasium in 1896, are also included. In 1906 a statue was erected in Budapest depicturing Mrs. Veres, wearing a Hungarian national costume. Today, the statue is placed at the beginning of Mrs. Pál Veres Street (Veres Pálné utca) in the inner city of the Hungarian capital. Its pedestal carries the inscription “Mrs. Pál Veres Hermin Beniczky. She fought for the cause that Woman with her education and her soul may become a factor/agent (tényező) of national welfare.” For more on the sculpture, see Veres Pálné, Beniczky Hermin szobra [The Sculpture of Mrs. Pál Veres Hermin Beniczky] (Budapest, 1906). KEYWORDS: Women and Institutions of Empire; Dynasty; Elisabeth Queen of Hungary and Empress of Austria; Women and Nation within Empire; Women and Nation-Building; Women and National Languages; National Identity; Empire Silenced; Women and Education; Education as a Source of Women’s Emancipation; Social Reform and Political Activism; Political Parties and Other Male-Dominated Organizations; Habsburg Empire; Austria; Hungary Show more Show less

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