Serdiuk Z. Formation of female secondary education in Odesa (on the example of the Mariinsky Women's Gymnasium 1869-1920)

The thesis considers the state of public education in Dnieper Ukraine in the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries with an emphasis on female schools; followed by a change in public opinion about women’s education; the process of founding the first female secondary schools in Odesa was traced; the peculiarities of the functioning of the Mariinsky Women’s Gymnasium of Odesa are revealed and its significance for the city community is clarified; a prosopographic portrait of the staff of the researched educational institution was compiled; the apprenticeship of the gymnasium is characterized; elements of everyday life of secondary school girls are shown. It is proved that in the wave of reforms of the second half of the XIX century the first secondary women's gymnasium open for representatives of diverse social groups was founded in Odesa. The school was reorganized from the private boarding house of Mrs. Аlexandra von Oglio. The naming of the gymnasium after the Empress Maria automatically raised its prestige in society. The school managed to successfully overcome the warnings of society and gain a respectable reputation in the city and beyond. It was determined that the Mariinsky Women's Gymnasium of Odesa had typical problems as all the first female secondary schools of Dnieper Ukraine: insufficient financial and technical security; classes overcrowding; lack of textbooks and manuals on academic disciplines; pro-government anti-Semitic attitude towards Jews and humiliation of the national culture of Ukrainians. Compiling a prosopographic portrait of the staff of the Mariinsky Gymnasium made it possible to note the tendencies of gender inequality. Most pupils were of noble origin and Christian faith. Quite high tuition fees limited the admission to the gymnasium of girls from lower class. Studying in the gymnasium gradually leveled the difference in the origin of pupils, emphasizing their abilities, successes and achievements. Gymnasium graduates were considered to be educated by European standards. The acquired knowledge gave them the opportunity to engage in further self-development. Gymnasiums provided a broader and more diverse preparation for real life, taught them to rely on themselves and their knowledge. The scientific novelty of the obtained results lies in a comprehensive study of the process of formation of female secondary education in Odesa in the second half of the XIX ̶ early XX centuries, which for the first time became the subject of a special study. In the process of preparing the dissertation, heuristic work was carried out, as a result of which unpublished archival sources were discovered, the vast majority of which are introduced into scientific circulation. For the first time, the emergence of the first female secondary schools in Odesa of various forms of ownership was traced and the special role of the Mariinsky Gymnasium among the community was determined; the staff and the pupils contingent of the Mariinsky gymnasium is analyzed; previously unknown diary of a pupil of one of the Odesa women's gymnasiums allowed to significantly supplement the idea of everyday life of the first female secondary schools; the study of the activities of the government and local authorities in the field of female education received further development; features of functioning of the Mariinsky Women's Gymnasium of Odesa were found out; the history of female education in Odesa has been clarified and supplemented. The practical importance of the results of the study is that it significantly expands the range of scientific knowledge on the history of female education in Ukraine. The main results and provisions of the dissertation can be used in generalizing works on the history of Ukraine, local lore studies, works on gender history. The materials and conclusions of the dissertation will be useful in the development of lectures and special courses on women's studies in higher education, as well as in the practice of public authorities and educational institutions of various forms of ownership in the development and implementation of educational innovations. They are especially important for parents and teachers who are trying to build modern models of female education based on national experience and traditions.