Jazłowiec (uk: Язловець, romanized: Yazlovets) was a

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...

Catholic

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the th ...

founded in 1863 by the

Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (in Polish ''Zgromadzenie Sióstr Niepokalanego Poczęcia Najświętszej Marii Panny'') are a female religious congregation di diritto pontificio: the members of ...

("Niepokalanki" in Polish), expressly for the education of girls and young women. It took its name from its location at the time,

Jazłowiec Yazlovets ( uk, Язловець, Yazlovets; pl, Jazłowiec; russian: Яблуновка, Yablunovka; yi, יאַזלאָוויץ, Yazlovits; he, יאזלובייץ, Yazlovits) is a village in Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. It is a ...

, on the Olchowiec (uk: Vilchivchik) river, a tributary of the

Strypa The Strypa ( uk, Стрипа; hu, Sztripa) is a river in Ternopil Oblast, Western Ukraine. It is a left-bank tributary of the Dniester that flows southward for 147 km through Ternopil oblast and drains a basin area of 1,610 km2 (12% territory of ...

, 16 km south of

Buchach Buchach ( uk, Бучач; pl, Buczacz; yi, בעטשאָטש, Betshotsh or (Bitshotsh); he, בוצ'אץ' ''Buch'ach''; german: Butschatsch; tr, Bucaş) is a city located on the Strypa River (a tributary of the Dniester) in Chortkiv Raion of T ...

Tarnopol Voivodeship Tarnopol Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo tarnopolskie) was an administrative region of interwar Poland (1918–1939), created on 23 December 1920, with an area of 16,500 km² and provincial capital in Tarnopol (now ''Ternopil'', Ukraine). The voi ...

, Galicia, now in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. During its 80-year existence it acquired great prestige for an institution of its kind and led to the order's educational expansion across land which is now

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

and

History

In 1862, Krzysztof Błażowski, latest of the Jazłowiec estate owners, decided to donate his classical

Poniatowski The House of Poniatowski (plural: ''Poniatowscy'') is a prominent Polish family that was part of the nobility of Poland. A member of this family, Stanisław Poniatowski, was elected as King of Poland and reigned from 1764 until his abdication ...

palace to a charitable cause. In 1863 he placed it and the estate in the hands of the Polish noblewoman, widow and mystic,

Marcelina Darowska Marcelina Darowska (16 January 1827 – 5 January 1911) was a Polish religious sister who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1996. She was inspired to co-found the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a congregat ...

, for the establishment of a convent for her new religious order, the

, and for a girls secondary school and other educational provision among the local rural population. Although the palace was in a dilapidated state, it offered 62 rooms and had internal running water. There were a spacious ballroom to convert into a chapel and extensive grounds and this pleased Darowska. She set to work with her team to rehabilitate the estate in time to welcome the first intake of pupils. The roll would eventually reach 120. The Sisters swiftly established the boarding school in Jazłowiec itself, for the children of wealthy families, which was attended by Darowska's own daughter, Karolina. A network of rural elementary schools was also set up.

Curriculum

Darowska's avowed aim in founding a community of sisters dedicated to education was to improve the place of women in society. The school pioneered a range of subjects for girls, from

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

and foreign languages and literature, through history and geography to mathematics and science subjects. Other topics included music and art, PE,

religious instruction A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

and

civics Civics is the study of the rights and obligations of citizens in society. The term derives from the Latin word ''civicus'', meaning "relating to a citizen". The term relates to behavior affecting other citizens, particularly in the context of u ...

in light of the partitioned nature of Poland as a political entity. There was a particular accent, before 1918, on

patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...

and

catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as a counterweight to the threat presented to Polish heritage and identity in all three of the adjacent powers occupying the erstwhile state,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, where

germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, German people, people and German culture, culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationa ...

and

russification Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...

were dominant. Although not all the pupils, especially those local to the school, came from wealthy or intellectual circles, the majority did. The school proved so popular with families, that in 1873 the construction of another project began in

Jarosław Jarosław (; uk, Ярослав, Yaroslav, ; yi, יאַרעסלאָוו, Yareslov; german: Jaroslau) is a town in south-eastern Poland, with 38,970 inhabitants, as of 30 June 2014. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), previ ...

on the river San at the foot of the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

. Others were to follow, beyond the "Mother house".

School network

* Secondary school in Jarosław *

Słonim Slonim ( be, Сло́нім, russian: Сло́ним, lt, Slanimas, lv, Sloņima, pl, Słonim, yi, סלאָנים, ''Slonim'') is a city in Grodno Region, Belarus, capital of the Slonimski rajon. It is located at the junction of the Ščar ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, shut down in 1939 * Niżniów nr. present day

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вськ, translit=Iváno-Frankívśk ), formerly Stanyslaviv ( pl, Stanisławów ; german: Stanislau), is a city located in Western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk O ...

, shut down in 1939 * Primary school in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

* Boarding lyceum in Szymanów. After 1945 it became the "Mother House". * Boarding lyceum in

Wałbrzych Wałbrzych (; german: Waldenburg; szl, Wałbrzich; sli, label= Lower Silesian, Walmbrig or ''Walmbrich''; cs, Valbřich or ) is a city located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland. From 1975–1998 it was the capital of W ...

* Boarding middle school in

Nowy Sącz Nowy Sącz (; hu, Újszandec; yi, Tzanz, צאַנז; sk, Nový Sonč; german: Neu-Sandez) is a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County as a separate administrative unit. It has ...

* Boarding Technical school in Nowy Sącz The convent in Słonim in Lithuania in the

Russian Partition The Russian Partition ( pl, zabór rosyjski), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Po ...

was in an environment of acute repression such that the sisters had to work in secret for the first 11 years. After 50 years of activity as superior of the congregation, at her death on 5 January 1911 in Jazłowiec, Darowska left seven convents and a community of 350 sisters. In recent years the last three schools of the order have become co-educational, with boarding facilities confined to female pupils.

Notable associated people

* Blessed

, foundress * , daughter of

Piotr Michałowski Piotr Michałowski (July 2, 1800 – June 9, 1855) was a Polish painter of the Romantic period, especially known for his many portraits, and oil studies of horses. Broadly educated, he was also a social activist, legal advocate, city administr ...

, painter, writer, nun, art teacher and translator *

Maria Rodziewiczówna Maria Rodziewiczówna (2 February 1863 – 16 November 1944, near Żelazna) was a Polish writer, among the most famous of the interwar years. Her works often addressed patriotism, rural life, and praised the countryside and peasantry. Rodziewic ...

, alumna and Polish writer *

Marcella Sembrich Prakseda Marcelina Kochańska (February 15, 1858 – January 11, 1935), known professionally as Marcella Sembrich, was a Polish coloratura soprano. She is known for her extensive range of two and a half octaves, precise intonation, charm, porta ...

, alumna, Polish opera singer *

Adam Stefan Sapieha Prince Adam Stefan Stanisław Bonifacy Józef Cardinal Sapieha (; 14 May 1867 – 23 July 1951) was a senior-ranking Polish prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Kraków from 1911 to 1951. Between 1922 and 1923, he was a se ...

, chaplain to the school * , archaeologist, ethnographer, lecturer, nun, superior in Jazłowiec * Anna Turowiczowa, alumna and literary translator * Blessed , medical doctor, nun, teacher and protector of Jews in WWII * , nun in Jazłowiec, protector of Jews in WWII * , nun, superior in Jazłowiec during WWII *

Krystyna Skarbek Maria Krystyna Janina Skarbek, (, ; 1 May 1908 – 15 June 1952), also known as Christine Granville, was a Polish agent of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. She became celebrated for her daring exploi ...

, alumna, SOE operative and secret agent in WWII * 14th Jazlowiec Uhlan Regiment, commanded by Brigadier General

Konstanty Plisowski Konstanty Plisowski of Odrowąż (8 June 1890 – 1940) was a Polish general and military commander. He was the Commander in the battle of Jazłowiec and the battle of Brześć Litewski. He was murdered on Stalin's orders in the Katyn massacre. ...

successfully defended the convent, College and the entire area during the

Polish–Ukrainian War The Polish–Ukrainian War, from November 1918 to July 1919, was a conflict between the Second Polish Republic and Ukrainian forces (both the West Ukrainian People's Republic and Ukrainian People's Republic). The conflict had its roots in ethn ...

in 1919. They attributed their success to the intercession of the Lady of Jazłowiec and chose to make her the

Patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of the regiment and added ''Jazłowiec'' to the regimental name and kept it thereafter right through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. As a token of their gratitude to the officers and men, in 1921 former students of the College devised a special regimental standard which they brought with them to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

after the war. It is kept in the collection of the

Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum ( pl, Instytut Polski i Muzeum im. Gen. Sikorskiego), known as Sikorski Institute, named after General Władysław Sikorski, is a leading London-based museum and archive for research into Poland during W ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

.Koło Ułanów Jazłowieckich, ''Dzieje Ułanów Jazłowieckich''. Praca zbiorowa. Wyd., 'Odnowa', London, 1988. 416 pages. A history published by London-based veterans of the regiment (in Polish)

References

External links