Women’s gymnasia – Brno
Fact of the Czech figure „Women education in Czechia”
Part of the „The emancipation of women” topic
The origins of women’s education relate to Maria Theresa’s educational reform (1774), which introduced compulsory education of both boys and girls up to the age of 12. Efforts to extend education for women were followed by the struggle for gender equality as education enabled women to adapt for the public domain and provided other life paths than just marriage. The first educational lectures for the poor were conducted by Marie Riegerová (daughter of F. Palacký), while Eliška Krásnohorská founded the girls‘ gymnasium Minerva and Vojta Náprstek established the Municipal Real Girls‘ Gymnasium in Prague (1891).
In Brno, the educational organisation for women Vesna, which established the first girls’ school on the territory of Moravia (1889), was operating. The association’s renown drew attention of major Czech artists, for instance composer Leoš Janáček or writer Gabriela Preissová. Having been interrupted during the communist regime, Vesna recovered in the 1990s and continues to focus on volunteering and extracurricular education today.
