Mulierem fortem quis inveniet: Polish Women Classicists under Communism

While all chairs of classics after the war were entrusted to already well-established pre-war professors, female scholars, junior often only by rank, took care of the mind-boggling logistics of setting up the defunct departments and preparing them for the first cohort of students. It was an unusual group composed of various ages and levels of knowledge. Older ones saw their education put on hold during the war or attended underground university classes but did not obtain their degrees. Younger ones completed high school within the same clandestine system. Things began to change during the second post-war decade with women advancing in their careers, obtaining degrees and university positions. The paper discusses the careers of seven prominent classicists: Zofia Abramowiczówna (1906–1988), Leokadia Małunowicz (1910–1980), Daniela Tennerówna-Gromska (1889–1973), Izydora Dąmbska (1904–1983), Anna Maria Komornicka (1920–2018), Iza Bieżuńska-Małowist (1917–1995), and Stefania Światłowska (1914–2009).