Să ne ferească Dumnezeu pe tot românul de femeia filozoafă”: Educația româncelor între tradiție, modernitate și idealuri naționale

The paper aims to address and also draw attention to the importance of using gender as a useful analytical category for understanding the nation building process. Given the complexity of the intersections between national and gender discourse, I chose to focus on one of the areas where this intersection is most pronounced. That is the issue of Romanian women's education as reflected in historical sources in the second half of the 19th century Transylvania. The study intends to draw attention to the fact that although there is an almost general agreement on the need to broaden access to education for Romanian women, even the most progressive and fervent supporters of the women's issue tend to propose a „controlled and temperate emancipation”. This is explained through the quasi-universal consciousness, that women must bear the „burden of representation”. Also, based on the available historical records, we will demonstrate that the educational model envisaged for, but also accepted by the Romanian women, is subordinated to national emancipation priorities, defined by men and unconditionally assumed by women, but also to the traditional perspective on gender relations, within clearly defined limits also by men, in terms of accepting the need for education, which is perceived as essential for the national empowerment, but without allowing women to move beyond their perceived role as spouses and mothers.