Title:

Library of the Society for Academic Aid in Paris in the light of correspondence and minutes and the process of shaping the reading needs of the Great Emigration

Creator:

Pugacewicz, Iwona

Publisher:

Instytut Historii Nauki im. Ludwika i Aleksandra Birkenmajerów Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Place of publishing:

Warszawa

Date issued/created:

2020

Date on-line publ.:

2020.12.31

Type of object:

Journal/Article

Subject and Keywords:

library ; readership ; education ; emigration ; France ; book ; culture ; reading ; Paris (France) ; educational needs ; self-education ; Society for Academic Aid

Abstract:

The article aims to recreate the unknown origins of the Society for Academic Aid, especially its library. The study, based on the source materials held in the Polish Library in Paris whose creation is closely related to the history of the described institution, begins with a concise presentation of the Polish emigration in France between 1831 and 1833, its number, dispersion and spiritual condition. The formation and activities of the Society were presented not as a top-down idea of the conservative camp, a stance prevalent in the scanty literature on this subject, but a bottom-up initiative of the entire Polish diaspora, despite its political divisions. On the other hand, responsiveness of the members of the Society, led by Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, was shown as well as their flexibility in relation to the changing cultural and academic needs of the Polish emigration. On the basis of correspondence sent to the Society from all over France and the first minutes of its meetings, the most urgent needs of Polish emigrants in the sphere of reading and learning were reconstructed and the purposefulness of the requests for a specific reading was shown. Presenting both individual and collective educational and reading expectations, special attention was paid to the dominant aspect of self-education and grassroots initiatives of emigrants deciding to continue their studies in Paris, which finally led to the creation of the library and contributed to the gradual creation of a dual Polish-French émigré identity.

Relation:

Rozprawy z Dziejów Oświaty

Volume:

57

Start page:

175

End page:

195

Resource type:

Text

Detailed Resource Type:

Article : original article

Format:

pdf

Resource Identifier:

0080-4754

Language:

pol

Language of abstract:

eng

Rights:

Creative Commons Attribution BY-NC-ND 4.0 license

Terms of use:

Copyright-protected material. [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] May be used within the scope specified in Creative Commons Attribution BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, full text available at:

Copyright holder:

Instytut Historii Nauki im. Ludwika i Aleksandra Birkenmajerów PAN

Original in:

Library of the Institute for the History of Science PAS

Access:

Open