Flying University
Flying University (Template:Lang-pl, sometimes also translated as Floating University) was the name of the secret educational underground[1] enterprise[2] that functioned from 1885 to 1905 in Warsaw, the historic Polish capital, then under the control of the Russian Empire, and was renewed in the People's Republic of Poland from 1977 to 1981. In one form or the other, the institutions that claimed the spiritual connection to the Flying University existed in Poland from 1905 till today.[citation needed]
The goal of this and similar institutions was to provide the Polish youth with the opportunity to obtain an education within the framework of the traditional Polish scholarship when such views where different from the dominating ideology. In the 19th century the role of the Flying University and other similar underground institutions was important in resisting the attempts to extinguish Polishness in the Prussian and Russian partitions of Poland.[3] In times of the Communist controlled People's Republic of Poland the institution's role was to provide an educational opportunity outside the government censorship and control of education.[4]
History
Partitions
After the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was partitioned in the late-18th century, its lands were divided among its neighbors: the Imperial Russia, Prussia and Austro-Hungary and Warsaw, the historic Polish capital, fell under the Russian control. In the Russian and Prussian partitions the situation of Poles progressively worsened.[3] Particularly, in the Russian partition, the initially moderate ethnic policies were revised in the aftermath of the Polish revolts aimed at overthrowing the Russian control, the November Uprising (1830-1831) and the January Uprising (1863-1864). Following the defeats of the uprising the autonomy of the Congress Poland was initially limited (1831) and finally abolished (1865).
Among the increasing policies of Germanization and Russification[3], it became increasingly difficult for Poles to obtain a Polish higher education.[3]. Also, like in most parts of Europe at the time, the higher education opportunities for women that existed in Russian Empire were severely limited [5] , and teaching or research into some fields, like Polish language, Catholicism or Polish history, ranged from difficult to illegal[3] [6] [7].
As a response to such policies[8] [3], and inspired by the Polish positivism movement[9], secret courses began in 1882 in private houses in Warsaw. At first it was a series the conspiratorial education courses for women, and among the first teachers were Józef Siemaszko, Stanisław Norblin, Piotr Chmielowski and Władysław Smoleński. In 1885 transformed due to the efforts of one of the students, Jadwiga Szczawińska[10] (also known as Zofia Szczawińska[11]), the various pro-education groups were united into a single, informal, and illegal, secret university open for both sexes[10] known as the Flying University (for the courses, spread throughout the city, often changed its locations, to prevent the Russian authorities from learning the location and arresting the teachers and students[10] [11]). The fees (2-4 rubles per month) were used as gratification for the teachers, and to create a secret library. The curriculum of the Flying University covered 5-6 years with 8-11 hours per week and was divided into four main subjects: social sciences, pedagogy, philology and history, and natural sciences.
Among the teachers of the university were the best contemporary Polish academics[11], such as Władysław Smoleński[12] and Tadeusz Korzon (history), Bronisław Chlebowski, Ignacy Chrzanowski and Piotr Chmielowski (literature), Jan Władysław David[12] and Adam Mahrburg[12] (philosophy), Ludwik Krzywicki[12] (sociology), Józef Nussbaum-Hilarowicz (biology).
During the twenty years of the existence of the university, it courses were attended by approximately 5,000 women and thousands of men. Among the most famous of its students was the future Nobel Prize winner, Maria Skłodowska-Curie[12] [3]. Other well known students included Zofia Nałkowska and Janusz Korczak.[10]
Legalization
Around 1905–1906 the Flying University was able to start legal activities, and was transformed into to the Society of Science Courses (Towarzystwo Kursów Naukowych)[12], as partitioners of Poland, expecting the approaching conflict, tried to convert the Poles to their cause[3]. Around 1918–1919, after Poland regained independence (as the Second Polish Republic), the Association was transformed into the private university, Free Polish University (Wolna Wszechnica Polska)[12]. In 1927 it founded a branch in Łódź.
Second World War
During the Second World War, when Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany which forbade Poles to attend university-level courses, many teachers of the Flying University used their experience and took part in the secret teaching during World War II.
People's Republic of Poland
After the Second World War, the Wolna Wszechnica Polska was not immediately recreated in Warsaw, although its branch in Łodź served as the foundation for the University of Łódź.
During the time of communist domination in the People's Republic of Poland, as the curriculum became a tool of politics, and much of Polish history (like Polish-Soviet War, Katyn Massacre or Praga Massacre) was censored in an attempt to 'erase' the history of Polish-Russian conflicts[13], the tradition of the Flying University was revived once again[4], first by Society of Free Polish University (Towarzystwo Wolnej Wszechnicy Polskiej) active in Warsaw from 1957, later from 1977 by the new Flying University and Society of Science Courses, supported by people like Adam Michnik and future Pope John Paul II[4], and others involved with the dissident organizations like the Workers' Defence Committee.[14][4] Many participants of this second flying university were abused by milicja, with common incidents like a prominent dissident, Jacek Kuroń being thrown down the stairs or his apartment ransacked by milicja-supported thugs[14], however despite such harassment the Flying University was active until the martial law in Poland of 1981, designed to destroy Solidarity movement, stifled its activities too. Nonetheless after Solidarity's peaceful victory in the Polish legislative elections, 1989, the goals of the Flying University — freeing of Polish education from party's control and censorship — have been achieved.
References
- ^ Betty Jean Lifton, The King of Children: The Life and Death of Janusz Korczak, p.35, St. Martin's Press, 1997, ISBN 0312155603
- ^ Peter Brock, John Stanley, Piotr J. Wróbel, Nation And History, p.167 University of Toronto Press, 2006, ISBN 0802090362
- ^ a b c d e f g h David Palfreyman (ed.), Ted Tapperm, Understanding Mass Higer Education, Routledge (UK), 2004, ISBN 0415354919, Google Print, pp. 141–142
- ^ a b c d Barbara J Falk, The Dilemmas of Dissidence in East-Central Europe: Citizen Intellectuals and Philosopher Kings, Central European University Press, 2003, ISBN 9639241393, Google Print, p. 42
- ^ Christine Johanson, Women's Struggle for Higher Education in Russia, 1855-1900, McGill-Queen's Press, 1987, ISBN 0773505652, Google Print, p.23
- ^ Abraham Ascher, The Revolution of 1905: A Short History, Stanford University Press, 2004, ISBN 0804750289 Google Print, p.47
- ^ Peter Brock, John Stanley, Piotr J. Wróbel, Nation And History, University of Toronto Press, 2006, ISBN 0802090362, Google Print, p.7
- ^ Peter Waldron, The End of Imperial Russia, 1855-1917, Palgrave, 1997, ISBN 0312165374, Google Print, p.120
- ^ Brian Porter, When Nationalism Began to Hate: Imagining Modern Politics in Nineteenth-Century Poland, Oxford University Press US, 2002, ISBN 0195151879, Google Print, p.85
- ^ a b c d Betty Jean Lifton, The King of Children: The Life and Death of Janusz Korczak, St. Martin's Press, 1997, ISBN 0312155603, Google Print, p.35-40
- ^ a b c Margarita Diaz-Andreu, Excavating Women: A History of Women in European Archaeology, Routledge (UK), 1998, ISBN 0415157609, Google Print, p.88
- ^ a b c d e f g Norman Davies, God's Playground: A History of Poland, Columbia University Press, 1982, ISBN 0231053525, Google Print, p.235
- ^ Marc Ferro, The Use and Abuse of History: Or How the Past Is Taught to Children, Routledge, 2003, ISBN 0415285925, Google Print, p. 259
- ^ a b Peter Ackerman, Jack Duvall, A Force More Powerful, Palgrave, 2001, ISBN 0312240503, Google Print, p. 129