This article analyses the regulations concerning women’s rights in the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Poland of 22 July 1952 and their reflection in the materials of the Polish Film Chronicle, particularly the 1950s editions. The Constitution, enacted during the period of Stalinisation and modelled on Soviet solutions, was strongly programme-based and declarative in nature. It introduced formal equality for women, which was intended to legitimise the new authorities and influence the mobilisation of society. Analysis of the PKF materials indicates that the Chronicle highlighted those aspects of women’s rights that were consistent with the current needs of the state – mainly the image of the economically active woman participating in industrialisation and the mother supported by the country. The issues of women’s real participation in decision-making processes, real wage equality or the difficulties of reconciling professional and family roles were marginalised. The image created in PKF was therefore a propaganda construct, intended to build a positive image of the system rather than faithfully reflect reality.

This article continues the analysis of selected historiographical works in terms of their authors’ perception of the role of women in the events they describe. This part examines the image of women in the works of a Syrian monk called Pseudo-Zachariah and Evagrius, a lay advocate from Antioch. Finally, there are conclusions summarising both parts of the article.

The purpose of this article is to present the biographies of the first ladies of the Third Polish Republic: Maria Kaczyńska, Anna Komorowska oraz Agata Kornhauser-Duda, as women who had a significant impact on the lives and activities of their spouses while they served as President of the Republic of Poland. It is an attempt to synthetically analyze their private lives, their scientific lives and their socio-political involvement. It seeks answers to the questions of whether the role of the first lady has been overestimated, and whether the balance of gains and losses has always been an added value for the president‘s wife herself, as well as her loved ones.

The article presents a summary of selected aspects of research on women’s history conducted in major academic centers. Although the beginnings of research on women’s history in Poland date back to the Second Republic and are linked to the scholarly achievements of Łucja Charewiczowa, it did not begin to truly develop until the late 1980s. The achievements of the first twenty years of research have already been summarized several times, including by Monika Piotrowska-Marchewa. The article therefore focuses on characterizing the research achievements of the past ten years conducted at major university centers. It also highlights topics related to the history of women in the 19th century that have not been included in previous summaries, as they did not involve Polish women. The authors emphasize the need to view the history of women in the 19th century in the Polish territories from a transnational perspective. They also note that recent publications reveal inspiration from research practices associated with the so-called new humanities and the social sciences.

The objective of the paper is to examine the genetic and process-related causes and consequences of women’s domination in teaching. It takes as its starting point the impact of the gender contract on the terms of employment for female teachers at the initial stage when the profession formally opened up to women. The consistent consolidation of the contract ideas led to shaping a vision of a teacher’s work solely in affiliative terms with little or no consideration for material aspects or questions of social position or prestige. Job description of a teacher has always been determined in a missionary and emotional spirit which has contributed to a gradual pauperisation of this profession. Consequently, the gender typ ification of the teaching role has become a fact in many countries which further consolidates the status quo and gives rise to a series of undesirable consequences.

The article aims to characterize the image of the modern woman propagated in the 1960s in the pages of the innovative magazine “You and I.” Three themes were analyzed: fashion, advertising, and belongings. The “material” perspective of modernity is linked to the characteristic turn towards everyday life and consumption of the 1960s. The article attempts to answer the question: to what extent is the image of the woman propagated in the first lifestyle magazine in communist Poland modern, and to what extent does the woman from “You and I” adhere to traditional social roles?

One of the most beautiful examples of Polish women’s participation in the fight for independence was their participation in the fight against the Bolshevik invasion of 1920. Shortly after the establishment of the State Defense Council, women’s organizations from all over the country engaged in propaganda activities for men to join the Volunteer Army. They also supported the Polish Army, organizing actions to establish inns and infir maries, and sending food parcels. They provided help to families evacuat ed from the eastern borderlands. Many of them found themselves on the front line as nurses. High school students and scouts provided examples of patriotism. The role models were the members of the Volunteer Legion of Women, who led, among others, intelligence and courier activities. In situ ations of particular threat from enemy troops, legionnaires participated in the battles for Lviv and Vilnius, and were ready to defend the capital during the Battle of Warsaw. In August 1920, women also fought in the defense of Włocławek and Płock. During the retreat of the Red Army troops, many rural women provided support to the Polish troops, participating, among others, in: in the action of catching hiding Bolsheviks.

The purpose of this article is to present the issue of emancipation through education on the example of the stories of the first female scholars of the University of Poznan that we have studied. The aim of the presented research is to discover unknown biographies, document legacies and traces, and preserve the memory of the first female researchers and scholars of the interwar period who worked and co-founded the University of Poznan – against the broader background of women’s struggle for equal rights to education. The goal is also to popularize the figures and achievements of extraordinary women, heroines of their time, pioneers, believers in the emancipatory power of science, education and reason, who influenced the social landscape of Poznan and the Second Republic.