The Activity of the Society of Folk Education in Lviv (1881-1914)

Abstract

In this paper, the functioning of the Society of Folk Education in Lviv, and in small town and rural environments, in the years 1881-1914 is presented. In the year 1904, the Society was conducting 517 reading rooms and libraries. By means of lectures, read-out papers, talks, popularising readership, reading fragments of novels aloud, celebrating national anniversaries and the theatrical performances of amateurs, it statutory goals were pursued. The above-mentioned goals were relevant to intellectual, social-ethical and health-related upbringing, cost-efficiency in daily life, cultural-aesthetic upbringing, multi-culturality and tolerance. The Society was liberal-democratic in its profile, and well-known professors of the University of Lviv and the Polytechnic School were involved in its work. Among them, there were the following ones: Ludwik Kubala (the first chairman of the management board of the Society), Jan Fijałek, priest and the rector of the University of Lviv, Kazimierz Twardowski, Ludwik Finkel, Wilhelm Bruchnalski, Aleksander Raciborski, Wojciech Dzieduszycki, Tadeusz Fiedler, Ignacy Zakrzewski, Aleksander Hirschberg, Roman Pilat, Władysław Abraham and Bronisław Dembiński.