Born: 23 November 1798, Poland
Died: 21 September 1845
Country most active: Poland
Also known as: Klementyna Tańska
The following is excerpted from “400 Outstanding Women of the World and the Costumology of Their Time” by Minna Moscherosch Schmidt, published in 1933.
Klementyna Hofmanowa was born in Warsaw in 1798, and as a child received thorough instruction in the French language.
Her mother, Mme. Tahska, was a ward of the Princess Czartoryska in Pulawy, and was a woman of great refinement. Hofmanowa wrote that her mother had taught her by words, by actions and by example, how to be religious and yet sociable, and how the surface qualities of the life of a woman can be combined with a real love for knowledge. In her first work Memories of a Good Mother that was published in 1819, she emphasized the need of improvement and progress, but in such a manner that she did not antagonize the older generation, while she won the allegiance of the youth of the nation. Her second work Amusements for Children, was a distinct departure in the field of writing, and was published periodically. Hofmanowa endeavored to instil in the minds of her young readers a desire to perform noble deeds, by acquainting them with heroes of the entire world.
In recognition of her achievements in die field of pedagogy and literature, she was given the supervision of the women’s schools in Warsaw. In 1829 she married the noted historian and patriot, Karol Hofman, but after Warsaw was occupied by the Russian troops, the Hofmans left for Paris. There she continued her pedagogical and literary work, publishing Literature of the Sixteenth Century, a Universal History, and Encyclopaedia for Girls, and also wrote stories, novels and tales. She died in Paris in 1845.
A collection of her works in fifteen volumes has gone through many editions, and constitutes a well-grounded phase in the development of pedagogy in Poland that led to wide reforms.