Paulina Hewelke
Paulina Hewelke (16 November 1854 – 28 January 1924) was a Polish educator and education activist during the period when Russification policies forbade teaching Polish language and culture. Active in clandestine activities to teach Polish subjects, she participated in lectures for the Flying University and from 1896–1919 operated a girl's school in Warsaw. The school was one of the top women's schools in Warsaw and upon her retirement was purchased by the government, which still operates as the Klementyna Hoffmanowa Lyceum and Secondary School IX.
Paulina Hewelke | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 November 1854 |
| Died | 28 January 1924 (aged 69) |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Occupation | teacher, education activist |
Early life
Paulina Hewelke was born on 16 November 1854 in Pułtusk in the Kingdom of Poland of the Russian Empire to Paulina Klementyna (née Baum) and Otton Karol Hewelke. Her father was the pastor of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Pułtusk. Hewelke had a younger brother,[1] Otton (1858–1919) who would become a physician.[2] She attended high school and earned her teaching credentials, becoming the family breadwinner, upon her father's untimely death.[1]
Career
Hewelke began her career at the government gymnasium in Pułtusk. In 1883, after Aleksandr Apuchtin began the Russification policies, which prohibited Polish students from speaking their language and studying their culture.[1] He began a series of purges to rid schools of Polish teachers and having little concern for students' education,[Notes 1] implemented policies to indoctrinate pupils into Russian culture.
Apuchtin demanded that each school have an Orthodox chapel, forbade outside organizations in schools, and among other policies, implemented military drills and exercises in memorization, which Mikołaj Kariejew, a lecturer at the University of Warsaw, stated discouraged students from learning and made them resentful.[3] In 1883, when University of Warsaw student Yevgeny Zhukovich, slapped Apuchtin, causing student uprisings in support of Zhukovich's action, Hewelke quit her job and took her mother and brother to Warsaw.[1][3]
Hewelke worked in private schools, simultaneously organizing clandestine courses in her apartment for women to study science. Later she began working at the boarding school run by Izabela Smolikowska and in 1896 she bought the school,[1] changing it from a six-term school to an eight year program.[4] The school was located at 122 Marszałkowska Street and occupied the ground floor of the building. The boarding dormitory was located on the third floor.[4]
Most of the students were from upper and middle-class families, who were part of the intellectual Warsaw enclave. Some pupils were daughters of landowners from Lithuania and Ukraine and others were from less privileged backgrounds.[5] Hewelke based the fees she charged on ability to pay and often reduced or waived tuition entirely for her poorer students. She organized secret courses on Polish culture and participated in creating lectures for the Flying University. Establishing practical exercises, the created a chemical and physical laboratory for her students. Recognizing the need for leisure, she also organized student summer holidays and supported scouting, which had recently emerged in Warsaw.[1]
In 1905, Hewelke hired Zofia Cieszewska, an education women's rights activist, to run the dormitory and teach junior mathematics classes.[6] That year, when the Narodowego Stowarzyszenie Nauczycielstwa Polskiego (National Association of Polish Teachers) was founded, Hewelke, along with Emilian Konopczyński and Marcin Szkopowski were on the inaugural board, chaired by Mieczysław Brzeziński.[7] Among her students were writer Maria Dąbrowska;[5] Maria Grzegorzewska, who initiated special education in Poland;[8] and children's author, Maria Kownacka, among many others.[5] After the Second Polish Republic was established, Hewelke brought in distinguished university professors like biologist Kazimierz Czerwiński, botanist Wacław Jezierski, geologist Stanisław Karczewski, sociologist Ludwik Krzywicki, physicist Tadeusz Miłobędzki, chemist Stefan Mycho, and mathematician Lucjan Zarzecki, among others.[5] Hewelke earned the reputation of running "one of the best women's schools in Warsaw"[5] and was active in the Kole Przełożonych Szkół (Circle of School Superiors) of the Warsaw school system.[1]
Later life, death, and legacy
In 1919, due to failing health, Hewelke sold her school to the government. Former students stepped in to help her, as she became impoverished from an inability to work. She died on 28 January 1924 in Warsaw and was buried in the Evangelical-Augsburg Cemetery, Warsaw.[1]
When the government purchased Hewelke's school, they renamed the facility the Klementyna Hoffmanowa Lyceum and Secondary School IX, and it remained on Marszałkowska Street until it was partially destroyed in the Warsaw Uprising during 1944. In 1961, it was relocated to the site of the former Warsaw Pomological Garden bordered by Nowogrodzka, Emilii Plater, Wspólna, and Tytusa Chałubińskiego Streets of Warsaw.[5]
Notes
- „Pańska uczoność niezbyt mnie interesuje, natomiast od wszystkich wymagać będę rosyjskiego ducha” – oświadczył Kariejewowi już podczas pierwszego spotkania. ("I am not interested in your scholarship, but I will demand a Russian spirit from all of them," he [Apuchtin] told Kariejew [Mikołaj Iwanowicz Kariejew] during their first meeting.)[3]
References
Citations
Bibliography
- Bucior, Małgorzata (2013). "Maria Grzegorzewska – kreatorka pedagogiki specjalnej w Polsce" [Maria Grzegorzewska – creator of special pedagogy in Poland]. Edukacja.edux.pl (in Polish). Zamość, Poland: Teacher Publications Portal. Archived from the original on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Gruszczyński, Arkadiusz (23 December 2016). "Kim była Maria Kownacka, autorka "Plastusiowego pamiętnika"?" [Who was Maria Kownacka, author of Plastusiowego pamiętnika]. Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Warsaw, Poland. Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Konarski, Stanisław (1961). "Paulina Hewelke 1854-11-16 – 1924-01-28". In Lepszy, Kazimierz (ed.). Polski Słownik Biograficzny (in Polish). 9: Gross Adolf – Horoch Kalikst. Wrocław, Poland: Polska Akademia Nauk. OCLC 320448405. Archived from the original on 5 July 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Krzyk, Józef (30 April 2018). "Apuchtin: matka Polka zawodzić będzie nad kołyską dziecka rosyjską piosenką" [Apuchtin: Polish mother will be wailing over the baby's cradle with a Russian song]. Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Warsaw, Poland. Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Majewski, Jerzy S. (21 February 2008). "Marszałkowska 122" [122 Marszałkowska Street]. Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Warsaw, Poland. Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Miąso, Józef (2005). "Walka o Narodową Szkołę w Królestwie Polskim w Latach 1905–1907 (w Stulecie Strajku Szkolnego)" (PDF). Rozprawy z dziejów oświaty (in Polish). Warsaw, Poland: Institute for the History of Science, Polish Academy of Sciences. XLIV: 75–103. ISSN 0080-4754. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2016.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Trybowski, Witold (13 February 2015). "Hewelke, Otton (1858–1919)". Otwock-History (in Polish). Otwock, Poland: Muzeum Ziemi Otwockiej. Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019. Site is a blog run by the Museum of the Otwock Region and the article provides consulted sources.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Żytkowicz, Leonid (1991). "Zofia Rudoszańska-Iwaszkiewiczowa z Cieszewskich 1885-11-09 - 1971-07-14". In Markiewicz, Henryk (ed.). Polski Słownik Biograficzny (in Polish). 32: Romiszowski Aleksander – Rudowski Jan. Wrocław, Poland: Polska Akademia Nauk. ISBN 978-8-386-3010-1-0. Archived from the original on 5 July 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)