From “A Man’s Companion” to University Student: a Discussion on Women’s Education in “Thick” Magazines during 1860s

Section: History of Journalism

The article is based on the studies of “thick” magazines of various political views at the end of the 1850s and 1860s. The author analyses the content of public discus­sions dedicated to women’s education in the Russian empire, which was a subject of significant modernization during that period. Traditional schooling establishments (girls’ colleges of Empress Maria’s establishment, religious schools, boarding colleges etc) were being transformed, and a new type of school was created. A short period of time — not much longer than ten years — included significant changes both in the life of the country in general, and in the position of women. The “thick” literary and socio-political magazines played an important role in helping the society to under­stand those changes.