The Catholic Women’s Movement in Lithuania (1907-1940) ; Katalikiškoji moterų judėjimo srovė Lietuvoje (1907-1940)
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2007
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2007
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VYTAUTAS MAGNUS UNIVERSITY THE INSTITUTE OF LITHUANIAN HISTORY Indr ė KAR ČIAUSKAIT Ė THE CATHOLIC WOMEN’S MOVEMENT IN LITHUANIA (1907-1940) Summary of Doctoral Dissertation Humanities, History (05 H) Kaunas, 2007 This dissertation was prepared in the period of 2003-2007 at Vytautas Magnus University. The doctoral study license is granted to Vytautas Magnus University together with the Institute of Lithuanian History by resolution No 926 of the Government of the Republic thof Lithuania on the 15 of July, 2003. Scientific supervisor: Prof. Habil. Dr. Egidijus Aleksandravi čius (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities, History, 05H) The Board of defense of the dissertation: Chairman: Assoc. prof. dr. Antanas Kulakauskas (Mykolas Romeris University, Humanities, History 05H) Members: Prof. Habil. Dr. Bronislovas Genzelis (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities History 05H) Dr. Silva Pocyt ė (Klaip ėda University, Humanities, History 05H) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rimantas Miknys (Institute of Lithuanian History, Humanities, History 05H) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jonas Vai čenonis (Vytautas Magnus University Humanities, History 05H) Opponents: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Algirdas Jakub čionis (Vilnius University, Humanities, History 05H) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Saulius Pivoras (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities, History 05H) The official defense of the dissertation will be held at 15 p.m.
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VYTAUTAS MAGNUS UNIVERSITY THE INSTITUTE OF LITHUANIAN HISTORY IndrėKARČIAUSKAITĖ THE CATHOLIC WOMENS MOVEMENT IN LITHUANIA (1907-1940) Summary of Doctoral Dissertation Humanities, History (05 H) Kaunas, 2007
This dissertation was prepared in the period of 2003-2007 at Vytautas Magnus University. The doctoral study license is granted to Vytautas Magnus University together with the Institute of Lithuanian History by resolution No 926 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on the 15thof July, 2003. Scientific supervisor: Prof. Habil. Dr. Egidijus Aleksandravičius (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities, History, 05H) The Board of defense of the dissertation: Chairman: Assoc. prof. dr. Antanas Kulakauskas (Mykolas Romeris University, Humanities, History 05H) Members: Prof. Habil. Dr. Bronislovas Genzelis (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities History 05H) Dr. Silva Pocytė(Klaipėda University, Humanities, History 05H) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rimantas Miknys (Institute of Lithuanian History, Humanities, History 05H) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jonas Vaičenonis (Vytautas Magnus University Humanities, History 05H) Opponents: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Algirdas Jakubčionis (Vilnius University, Humanities, History 05H) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Saulius Pivoras (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities, History 05H) The official defense of the dissertation will be held at 15 p.m. on September 24 at a public sitting of the defense Board at Vytautas Magnus University, in auditorium of Adolfas apoka (no. 508 ) in Donelaičio 52. Address: K.Donelaičio 52, LT -44244 Kaunas, Lithuania Phone (8 37)3278 36 This summary of the doctoral dissertation was sent out on August ..., 2007. The dissertation is available at the National M.Mavydas library, the library of Vytautas Magnus University and the library of the Institute of Lithuanian History.
VYTAUTO DIDIOJO UNIVERSITETAS LIETUVOS ISTORIJOS INSTITUTAS IndrėKARČIAUSKAITĖ KATALIKIKOJI MOTERŲJUDĖJIMO SROVĖ LIETUVOJE (1907-1940) Daktaro disertacijos santrauka Humanitariniai mokslai, istorija (05 H) Kaunas, 2005
Disertacija rengta 2003-2007 metais Vytauto Didiojo universitete. Doktorantūros teisėVytauto Didiojo universitetui kartu su Lietuvos istorijos suteikta isntitu 2003 m. liepos 15 d. Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės nutarimu Nr.926 Mokslinis vadovas: prof. habil. dr.Egidijus Aleksandravičius Didiojo universitetas, (Vytauto humanitariniai mokslai, istorija 05 H) Disertacija bus ginama Vytauto Didiojo universiteto ir Lietuvos istorijos instituto Humanitariniųmokslųsrities istorijos krypties taryboje. Pirmininkas: doc. dr.Antanas Kulakauskas Romerio universitetas, humanitariniai (Mykolo mokslai, istorija 05 H) Nariai: prof. habil. dr.Bronislovas Genzelis (Vytauto Didiojo universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, istorija - 05H) vyresn.m.d. dr.Silva Pocytė (Klaipėdos universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, istorija - 05H) doc. drRimantas Miknys istorijos institutas, humanitariniai mokslai, (Lietuvos istorija - 05H) doc. dr.Jonas Vaičenonis(Vytauto Didiojo universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, istorija - 05H) Oponentai: doc. dr.Algirdas Jakubčionis universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, (Vilniaus istorija 05 H) doc. dr.Saulius Pivoras(Vytauto Didiojo universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, istorija 05H) Disertacija bus ginama vieame Humanitariniųmokslųsrities istorijos krypties tarybos posėdyje, kuris vyks 2007 m. rugsėjo 24 d. 15 val. VDU Adolfo apokos auditorijoje, Donelaičio g. 52, auditorija 508). Adresas: K.Donelaičio 52, LT -44244 Kaunas, Lietuva. Telofonas: (8 37)3278 36 Disertacijos santrauka isiuntinėta 2007 m. rugpjūčio ... d. Disertaciją galima periūrėti Lietuvos nacionalinė Vytauto Didiojo M.Mavydo, universiteto ir Lietuvos istorijos instituto bibliotekose.
Introduction In the second half of the 19thcentury new movements supporting democracy spread in Europe, struggling for human and national rights. The womens movement, demanding basic civil rights for women, was one of them. At the beginning of the 20th century, democratic movements became an important factor in the formation of Lithuanian society. The womens movement, which arose in Lithuania in the beginning of 20th century, split into liberal and Catholic currents. While the former, supported by outstanding individual women, was promoting unambiguously feminist ideas, the latter was more conservative, in many cases favoring only moderate feminism. It was however more successful in establishing a broad base of support from many women. Lietuvių katalikių moterų draugija[LKMD Lithuanian Catholic Womens Organisation] turned itself into an institution for social education for its members by widening its organizational web through local branches, schools for girls and other enterprises. This Catholic current of the Lithuanian womens movement achieved to attract many Lithuanians to work for the common good through journalism, lectures, congresses, and in fact by developing a specific female public discourse. The name of LKMD coded the three major tasks of organization: strengthening a Lithuanian identity as well as Catholicism and supporting womens interests in society. These goals were closely connected to the three major ideologies which were predominant in Europe at beginning of 20th century: nationalism, social Catholicism and feminism. These movements had an immediate influence on the thoughts of Lithuanian women, determining their quest to be regarded as fully responsible citizens within society. The relevance of the study. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the absence of a Civil Society was felt acutely in post-Soviet societies, further encouraging scholarly interest in this phenomenon. Ernest Gellner and Robert Putnam discussed this issue in the context of the US and European countries. It is thus worth paying attention to interwar public organizations to search for evidence of civil society structures during the first independence of modern Lithuania. LKMD was chosen for detailed analysis because as it was closely related with the Catholic womens movement. The analysis of such an organization in a European context as well as a use of relevant archival sources for the first time makes this work pertinent.
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The chronologicalthis thesis is 1907, when a separate Catholic of beginning womens movement started developing during the First Lithuanian Womens Congress. Focussing on the interest in the civic network woven by Catholic women, particularly the discourses they used, the narrative continues until 1940, when LKMD was closed and its civic network broken. The declaration of Lithuanian independence in 1918 was not a breaking point, even if consequently Lithuanian women were empowered by fair legislation, because Catholic women continued to be engaged primarily in social, cultural and religious activities. Catholic women in this thesis are understood not as women baptized in the Catholic faith, but as those who were actively participating in Catholic organizations, the Catholic press and the work of the Catholic Action. The activities of LKMD were chosen as the basis for this study. This organization marked a new direction in religiously inclined organizations because it tried to involve women from diverse social standings in order to solve various problems. This organization managed to gather some tens of thousands women not only for masses or marches and rallies but also for social activity within their parishes. LKMD was chosen for a number of reasons: it had spread all across Lithuania, it had a large number of members in fact it was the largest womens organization in Lithuania, and it was interested not only in spiritual goals, but also in social ones. Thereforethe object of research isLietuvių katalikių moterų draugija, its discourses and civil initiatives. The aim of this research is to present LKMD in its ideological context, to understand how exactly this conservative, ultra Catholic Organization involved unsophisticated women in the wider social life, enriching their lives and that of their communities while, at the same time, expanding the level of civic involvement in Lithuania. In order to achieve this, the followingtaskswere completed: (1) a presentation of the emergence of feminism and social Catholic thought, showing how much Lithuanian women knew about liberal and womens ideas in the world; (2) an introduction to the Lithuanian national movement, which led Catholic women in a somewhat different direction then national movements in Germany, Belgium or France; (3) an analysis of the circumstance of LKMDs establishment; (4) an evaluation of the organizations support from other Catholic organizations; (5) an analysis of LKMDs
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cooperation with other organizations; (6) an analysis of the organizations discourse on Catholic womens attitudes to the family, professional life and public work and (7) an analysis of the civic network created by the organizations through its branches and its educational and social institutions. The above mentioned aim and tasks determinethe structureof this work. This thesis comprises of an introduction, four chapters and a summarizing conclusion. The first chapter features the emergence of feminism and social Catholic thought in Europe and their influence on the ideas of Lithuanian Catholic women. The second chapter contains an analysis of LKMD at different points of its history according to two primary features of an organization of civil Society: tolerance and cooperation. This chapter covers the establishment of the organization, the attempts of Catholic women to engage in political life of independent Lithuania and their disagreement to the policies of the Smetona regime. The third chapter contains a treatment of the discourse Catholic women, especially how they understood womens role in their families, professions and society. In the fourth chapter it is investigated how the members of the organization took initiative to improve womens lives. It discusses practical activities of LKMD members, focusing on the development its branch network, branches activities, festivals and attempts to provide educational opportunities and social care institutions. Methods. When carrying out this work, descriptive, analytical and comparative methods were used. Overview of the historiography.Virginija Jureniene, a pioneer of the research on the history of the womens movement in Lithuanian in first half of 20th century, includes basic information on LKMD in her bookLietuvių moterų XIX a judejimas pabaigoje XX a. pirmoje pusėje.1That author, however, attributes higher relevance to the liberal wing of the womens movement in Lithuania than to the Catholic part. This is based on more liberally minded women being the first who initiated a debate on womens rights in Lithuania and continuing to voice the most progressive ideas. While her book analyzes the political activities of women, including Catholics, in great detail, less attention is devoted to the various social, charitable, cultural activities, on which this thesis focuses.
1Virgnija Jureniene,Lietuviųmoterųjudejimas XIX a pabaigoje XX a. pirmoje pusejeniua an(htiL women movement from the end of the 19thto the middle of the 20thcentury), Vilnius, 2006.
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The bookLietuvos vienuolijos. XX a. istorijos bruoaiby Regina Laukaitytė2is important for it thorough coverage of activities of nuns (convent and secret ones), who often cooperated with LKMD on educational issues and social care. Valdas Pruskus workKatalikų socialinė Lietuvoje (XIX a. antroji pus mintisė XX a. pradia)on Catholic social thought in Lithuania provides information on priests initiatives in the organization of special Catholic organization, though the author pays little attention to these initiatives.3 Sources.this work are the documents stored in the key sources of The Lithuanian Central State Archive (LCVA), mostly the material of the LKMD fund F 567, which covers the years 1919 until 1940. The following materials of that fund were used: circulars of LKMD and correspondence between headquarters and branches. Reports of meetings and minutes also are valuable historical sources. They provide an opportunity to asses the activities of branches, the attendants of their meetings, as well as discussions in the meetings. Not many of such documents have been archived, however. For most branches they are missing entirely, for others they only cover a few years, not allowing the researcher to keep track the life of a branch through its entire existence. The organizations center attempted to track of membership numbers (of this, too, only from some years only are available); correspondence between headquarters and branches show, however, that often more money was demanded from a branch, than it could provide based on the number of its members the central organization had usually based its claims on old data about membership. The membership numbers provided by the organization (40 000 members in 1940) therefore have to be treated cautiously, as they tended to indicate the number of women interested in the organizations events rather than the number of active, paid-up members. Archival sources of LKMD from before World War One are even rarer. Some individual documents are kept in Kaunas Kurija Archive (Fund 320), most probably collected by the priest Povilas Januevičius. An important group of sources utilized in preparing this dissertation were the periodicalsLietuvaitė (Lithuanian girl, 1910-1914),Moteris (Woman, 1921-1940) and 2Regina Laukaitytė,Lietuvos vienuolijos. XX a. istorijos bruoai(Monastic Institutions of Lithuania: Featuyres of Their History in the Twentieth Century), Vilnius, 1997. 3Valdas Pruskus,Katalikųsocialinėmintis Lietuvoje (XIX a. antroji pusė XX a. pradia)(Catholic Social Thought in Lithuania), Vilnius, 1995 and Valdas Pruskus,Socialinėkatalikybėtarpukario Lietuvoje(Social Catholisism in interwar Lithuania), Vilnius, 2001.
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Naujoji Vaidilutė (New Priestess, 1921-1931-1940). They served to track the main discourses of the Catholic womens movement. Other periodicals, such asVilniaus inios News), (VilniusViltis (Hope),Vienybė (Solidarity) andRytas were (Morning), mainly used to fill gaps were information was missing. Useful were also other published sources connected to LKMD, for example a book covering the history of LKMD,Tiesos ir meilės tarnyboje[In the service of truth and love], edited by O. Gaigalaitė-Beleckienė. As it appeared at the 25thanniversary of the organization, it is somewhat ecstatic in its descriptions of the organizations achievements. Further useful sources for the research here were memoirs of O. Gaigalaitė Beleckienė, Ona Jonkaitytė-Gratkauskienė, Ona Naruytė Paulina and Kalvaitytė-Karvelienė. The data found in archive and published sources was supplemented by interesting insights by women who lived in that period, received in semi-structural interviews. Records of these interviews are stored in the personal collection of Indrė Karčiauskaitė. I. First feminist activities In the first chapter of this thesis the context of the emergence of feminism in the United States and Europe is presented in order to better understand the external influences on the Lithuanian womens movement and differences between it and similar movements in other countries. The new possibilities offered by nationalism at the beginning of the 20thare discussed. Special attention is paid tocentury as well as some of its drawbacks Catholic social thought and its spread in Lithuania, and also to the Christian current of feminism, which was formed under the confluence of feminism and Catholic social thought. Lithuanian women were not in intellectual isolation, but influenced by feminist, nationalist and Catholic social thought elsewhere. Lithuanians knew about the demands of women in 19thcentury America, their newspapers followed the suffragist struggle in Britain and admired Finnish and Australian womens rights movements. Womens movements everywhere attempted improve their rights step by step. First, women usually improved their educational opportunities, then they demanded equal employment possibilities and equal wages. Subsequently they sought to improve the
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legal status of women, especially their right of custody for their children following a separation and a womans right to employment without her husbands consent. Only at the turn of the 20th two more questions were increasingly raised: the fight century against double standards for men and women and political rights of women such as electoral suffrage. The initial impetus into womens movement came not from activism for specific womens interests, but from bourgeois womens efforts to help the needy. This action was often inspired by deep religiosity and the belief that charitable acts can transform society. This work of women and their effective care of the needy based the claim that women are capable to care not only about their family, but can cope with wider social problems. Thus, women became actors in the social sphere and negotiated their rights to be accepted as full citizens. Many women in 19th century had to earn their living and even support their families financially. Pressed by poverty they often agreed to work for less money than needed to survive. Well paid professions were open only to university graduates, which were exclusively male. Thus equal rights to higher education for girls arose as a first aim for women in Europe. At that time there was no university in Lithuania so everyone desiring higher education had to leave the country. Education for women was restricted to very few courses in Russia; only after the liberalization of the regime large number of Lithuanian women began studying in St.Petersburg. The Lithuanian national movement came to influence the local womens movement strongly, as happened in other state - aspiring nations. The declaration of Lithuanian independence did not end the process of nation building but proved to be an effective catalyst for the self-identification of the Catholic Lithuanian womens movement. According to Nira Yaval-Davis, women were implicated into nationalism, primarily as biological reproducers of the nation. Lithuanian press at that time often reduced the importance of women to the nation to their motherly duties, i.e. childbearing and child nurturing. Women internalized this notion and tried to use it for their empowerment. The importance of enlarging the nation was stressed, thus abortions became fiercely denounced as bringing the nation to extinction. The Lithuanian woman as a mother, secretly teaching her child the Lithuanian language and culture, was popularized by Petras Rima.Moteriseven placed a stilized
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image depicting such a situation on its cover in 1923-1924. Indeed, all newpapers stressed as womens tasks the nurturing of children and the housekeeping for the nation, thus mirroring the primary argument for womens civil rights everywhere. The proclamation ofRerum Novarumby Pope Leo XIII in 1891 founded the new social politics of the Catholic Church and laid the foundations ofActio Catholica. Socially interested Catholics hoping to re-Christianize society relied on the help of women. They could also not ignore practical obstacles, such as poverty of workers and their families, which made women incapable to fulfill their motherly duties. They therefore aimed to improve womens conditions with the help of Catholic womens organization by providing health centers, professional unions, and training schools. In Lithuania the interest in Catholic social thought came from nationally minded priests. In Kaunas in 1905-1914 secret meetings of priests and laity were held, in which various questions related to the Lithuanian national movement and Catholicism were discussed. One of the initiators of these meetings was Povilas Januevičius, who was an eager supporter of the cooperative movement as well as an important person in creating and leading LKMD in its first decade. From the beginning of 20th century the question of political suffrage had a primary importance in the feminist movement. Women trying to negotiate political rights based their claims on two contradictory arguments: democracy, i.e. all citizens equal rights to participate in politics, and gender differences between women and men, implying that men can not represent women so that women have to represent themselves. Pope Pius X stated his negative attitude towards female suffrage in 1906 and 1909, hence few Catholic organizations in Europe openly demanded womens suffrage. II. Within the national movement: (non)tolerance and (non)cooperation The First Womens Congress in Kaunas in 1907 marks the beginning of the clergys interest in the womens movement. The Catholic priest Povilas Januevičius decided to organize a Womens Congress, inviting Lithuanian women of all worldviews. Thus the congress showed a will for cooperation of Catholic and liberal women. Cooperation was beneficial for both sides, as Catholic women were not used to leading large meetings and wanted liberal intellectual women to do that, while liberal
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