Women’s right to study in Europe

The first woman to be awarded a PhD degree was Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia. She received it from the University of Padua already in 1678! Nevertheless, it was only the social change in the 19th century that led to the gradual opening of universities to women. From the 1860s they were allowed to study, first in Lyons and Montpellier, then in Zurich, Geneva, Brno and at the Swedish universities. Over time it became possible in other countries as well.

The first women allowed to study in Poland, which was divided due to the Partitions, were those living under the Austrian rule. From 1894 they could listen to the lectures at the Jagiellonian University. Three years later they could become fully-fledged students at the University’s Faculty of Philosophy and Faculty of Medicine.

Women living under the Prussian rule began to be admitted to universities in 1908.

Women living under the Russian rule had to wait for the right to study for the longest – universities did not open for them until 1915.