National education society: social and political organization of the polish people at the turn of the 19-20 centuries

Abstract

The aim of this study is to highlight, on the basis of a wide range of sources and literature, significant events in the history of the Society of People’s Education — the educational nucleus of the Polish community at that time.

The article found out that the last decades of the 19^th century brought a revival of educational activities among the people in Galicia. At that time, public associations were founded, which aimed to improve the literacy of the poorest sections of the population by establishing a network of schools, libraries and publishing houses. Systematicity and an extensive network allowed them to carry out stable educational work in accordance with the provisions of their statutes.

The article highlights the activities of the Public Education Society in Lviv, in the cities and in the rural areas of Galicia in 1881-1914. In 1904 the Society had 517 reading rooms and libraries. The Society had a liberal-democratic direction, professors of Lviv University and Polytechnic were involved in the work of organizational structures: Ludvik Kubala (first presidium), Fr. Yan Fialek – rector of the University, Kazimierz Tvardovskyi, Ludwik Finkel, Vilhelm Bruchnalskyi, Alexander Ratsiborskyi, Wojciech Dzedushytskyi, Tadeusz Fiedler, Ignatius Zakzhevskyi, Alexander Hirshberg, Roman Pilat, Vladyslav Abraham, Bronislav Dembinskyi.

The work involves in the Ukrainian scientific circulation sources and literature thematically integrated with the activities of the Society of Public Education. The author’s view of the processes related to the activities of the outlined organization was formed. The life cycle of the organization, the most significant events on its way, are followed.