Anna Maria van Schurman and the struggle for women’s education

Abstract

The article presents the figure of the 17th-century Dutch scientist, Anna Maria van Schurman, and analyzes her dissertations from 1641 on women's access to education (Dissertatio, de ingenii muliebris ad doctrinam et meliores litteras apitudine). The author set the development of religious life as the main goal of women's education. In order to defend herself against accusations of pride and convince public opinion that educated women would not fight for equal rights, she had to fully accept the status of women as weaker than men. She did not try to argue with the idea of ​​the weakness of the female mind, but used it to convince the most hardened opponents of women's education using their own arguments. She wanted to avoid being accused of extreme moral radicalism so that her demands would be heard. Far from having revolutionary views, she sought to improve the intellectual condition of women within the established social order. The analysis of van Schurman's treatise showed that the author wanted to present an educational program that would, on the one hand, be progressive and improve the situation of female education, but would also be acceptable to at least part of society.