Narcyza Żmichowska was the most prominent and prolific Polish female writer of the first half of the nineteenth century. She was the author of four novels (three unfinished), various short novellas and fragmentary prose cycles, some poetry, but also of a vast correspondence. She was unable to earn a living from writing and worked mainly as a governess in private homes, a teacher in girls’ schools, and occasionally as a translator. She was an advocate of women’s education and vocational training. She is perhaps most readily associated in Polish literary and social history, however, with the group of women gathered around her during the1840s known as The Enthusiasts, generally regarded as the first collective expression in the Polish context of “feminist” or “proto-feminist”…
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Citation: Phillips, Ursula. "Narcyza Żmichowska". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 August 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13576, accessed 25 November 2024.]
