Lecture: From salons to academia. The first women at the Jagiellonian University

Join us for a lecture in the Mature for Art series, which will tell the story of women’s journey into the academic world. The event will be an opportunity to learn more about the first female students and researchers at the Jagiellonian University, who overcame prejudice, gained an education in male-dominated fields and paved the way for future generations. 

10 April 2026, 11.00 am

For centuries, universities remained a space reserved almost exclusively for men. In the 15th century, the first female student appeared at the Jagiellonian University disguised as a man. However, the famous Nawojka was unmasked. Later, women were occasionally allowed to attend lectures as auditors – they could participate in classes but were not permitted to sit exams or obtain academic degrees. In the 19th century, amidst debates on women’s education and their social role, the first calls for women to be admitted to university began to emerge. 

In 1894, women were officially admitted to the Faculty of Pharmacy, and from 1897 they were also able to study at the Faculty of Philosophy, followed by the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Law. Their presence was the result of many years of efforts and disputes over women’s place in the world of academia. In 1914, female students accounted for 25 per cent of the university student body, and at the turn of 1955/1956, their numbers exceeded those of male students for the first time. Since then, the feminisation of academia has continued steadily. In 1981, Prof. Maria Sarnecka-Keller, a biochemist, became the first female vice-rector of the Jagiellonian University. However, the university is still waiting for its first female rector.

During her lecture, Dr Małgorzata Jędrzejczyk will talk about female students at the Jagiellonian University who broke down institutional barriers and social prejudices, paving the way for subsequent generations of female students and researchers. She will also discuss figures who fought for women’s access to higher education in Kraków. The meeting will launch a series of educational events organised in collaboration with the Jagiellonian University. From April, our lectures and workshops will move to the Jagiellonian University Museum, Collegium Maius. You are warmly invited!

Practical information:

•  The event will take place in a hybrid format: in person at the Collegium Maius Museum of the Jagiellonian University and online via Zoom.
• Attendance at the lectures is free of charge.
•  The event will be held in Polish. 
• Participation in the lectures is free of charge.
• Lecture duration – approx. 60 min.
•  To receive a link to participate in the online meeting, please send your application to the following email address: warsztaty@mck.krakow.pl.
• For detailed information, please write to warsztaty@mck.krakow.pl or call 12 42 42 860 .

Host: 

Dr. Małgorzata Jędrzejczyk – art historian, curator. Studied art history at Jagiellonian University, Universität Wien and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Graduate of the interdisciplinary study program Environment-Technology-Society (UJ). Author of scholarly articles on 20th century art and architecture and publications in exhibition catalogs and journals. Co-editor of an anthology of image/body texts and the publication “Komponowanie przestrzeni. Rzeźby awangardy”. Co-author and curator of the artistic and scientific program “Exercising Modernity” (Pilecki-Institut Berlin). As part of her doctoral thesis being prepared at the Institute of Art History at the Jagiellonian University, she is conducting research on the concept of space in the work of Katarzyna Kobro.

The offer is under the auspices of the monthly magazine “Voice of the Senior”.

We would like to inform you that during classes, workshops, meetings, gallery lessons, lectures, photos may be taken for the needs of the International Cultural Centre in Cracow (including, among others, for documentation and information on the ICC website and on the ICC profiles on Facebook and Instagram). If you do not agree to this, please inform us in advance. Photos may include images of people participating in the classes and images of works made during the classes. Failure to provide written information to the Exhibition Center before the start of the classes is tantamount to consenting to the International Cultural Center in Krakow's use of the photos mentioned above.