Sikorki i siłaczki. Transmisja ideałów pokolenia Szkoły Głównej do kręgów kobiecych
“Titmice” and “Strongwomen”. On the Transmission of the Ideals of Main School’s Generation to Female Circles

Author(s): Lena Magnone
Subject(s): Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: The Main School; Jadwiga Sikorska; school for girls; education; emancipation; Flying University
Summary/Abstract: The article presents people, milieus and institutions that played the most important role in the transfer of knowledge and ideals developed within the walls of the Warsaw Main School to several consecutive generations of women. Although girls were not allowed to study or even enter the Main School’s auditoriums, the fact that many graduates of the university became teachers in private female educational institutions – especially Jadwiga Sikorska’s school for girls, pupils of which were called “sikorki” (“Titmice”) in reference to the headmistress’ last name – not only gave them access to the up-to-date state of research but also enabled them to apply the Main School’s moral and social standards. Moreover, the so-called “Flying University”, one of the most important achievements of the heirs of the Main School’s tradition, should be recognized as the School’s feminine equivalent. Among this clandestine university’s alumnae were the most prominent female figures of the era: scientists, educators, journalists, physicians and soforth. The common point of their biographies was their social activism, deeply rooted in positivist worldview. The main character of Żeromski’s Siłaczka (“Strongwoman”) perfectly illustrates long-term impact of the leftist ethos originated in the Main School on women in the Kingdom of Poland.

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