Maria Grzegorzewska

Life & Legacy

Maria Grzegorzewska (18 April 1887 – 7 May 1967) was a Polish educator who brought the special education movement to Poland. Born to a family from the Żmudź region, she was strongly influenced by her parents' beliefs in humanitarianism. After attending clandestine schools to earn her basic education from Polish rather than Russian educators, she obtained her teaching credentials in Lithuania. She continued her education at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and in 1913 joined her countrywoman, Józefa Joteyko in Brussels to study at the International Paedological Faculty. When her studies in Belgium were interrupted by World War I, Grzegorzewska made her way to Paris and earned her PhD from the Sorbonne in 1916.
After the establishment of the Second Polish Republic in 1918, Grzegorzewska returned to Poland intent upon creating programs which addressed the needs of disabled children and introducing educational reforms to improve their lives. In 1919, she began working for the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Education, establishing facilities for the care of disabled children, schools for special education, and training programs for teachers. Using her own methodology, she designed curriculum which in 1922 was implemented at the newly founded State Institute of Special Education (Polish: Państwowy Instytut Pedagogiki Specjalnej). She directed this institute from its founding until her death.
During World War II, Grzegorzewska worked as a nurse, was active in the Polish resistance movement, and taught in Warsaw. She joined Żegota and provided assistance to Jews. When Poland was liberated in 1945, Grzegorzewska reactivated the Special Education Institute and within five years introduced graduate and extramural courses to the curricula. In 1950, during the implementation of Stalinist doctrine in Poland, the school was renamed the State College of Special Education (Polish: Państwowe Studium Pedagogiki Specjalnej) and a state curricula was introduced. She struggled against the state program, wanting to protect special education and people with disabilities. After the 1956 thaw, the institute regained governmental support and reverted to its initial name. Between 1957 and 1960, was a full professor at the University of Warsaw. Her work in science and for the Polish education system were honored with numerous awards and distinctions.