„Kropla Mleka” w morzu potrzeb, czyli działalność Berty Szaykowskiej na rzecz poprawy sytuacji białostockich kobiet (1919–1939)

Abstract

On the one hand, the aim of this article is to introduce the figure of MD Berta Szaykowska to a wider audience. The figure of doctor from Białystok specializing in pediatrics and neonatology. But on the other hand, it is an attempt to take a closer look at her socio-cultural activities, the efforts put into the process of improving the hygiene and health of women from the lowest social classes. However, most of all, it is supposed to be a kind of an unique journey into the female world of the interwar Białystok. An image which reflects, via the heroine, the headaches of everyday life of those days. Regardless of whether they affected single mothers, students of a female gymnasium or local prostitutes. In the margin of the main narration, the presented text also includes Białystok threads related to the prominent names of Polish literature. Names including Bertha’s friends – Maria Dąbrowska or Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, but also the last President of the Republic of Poland in exile – Ryszard Kaczorowski, who was related to her.