The Moral and Nationalist Education of Girls in the Greek Communities of the Ottoman Empire (c.1800–1922)

Abstract

This article explores women's education in the Greek communities (Rum millet) of the Ottoman Empire from the nineteenth century through to the formation of the constitution of the Turkish Republic and the abolition of the millet institution in 1922. It focuses, in particular, on the moral, social and ethnic/national aspects of the education of Ottoman Greek women. The main aim of the article is to outline the way in which education was used to construct an ideal female identity. The author argues that the education of Ottoman Greek girls emphasised the social role of women and, thereby, reproduced the prevailing ideology concerning female virtue and morality. The social and national role of women was constructed so as to serve the ethnic and socio-economic needs of the Greek communities and especially of the communities' urban classes, the group in society which also controlled the ideological and economic parameters of women's education. From the 1870s onwards, a time when the ideology of nationalism and irredentism (alytrotismos) evolved in the Balkans, education operated as the main means through which national political aims were pursued, such as the implementation of the Megali Idea (Great Idea) and the expansion of the borders of the Greek state.

Notes

Paraskevas Koniortas (1998) Othomanikes Theoriseis gia to Oikoumeniko Patriarcheio 17os—arches 20ou aiona [Ottoman perspectives on the ecumenical patriarchate 17th c.—beginning of 20th c.] (Athens: Alexandreia Press); Charalambos Papastathis (Ed.) (1984) Oi Kanonismoi ton Orthodoxon Ellinikon Koinotiton tou Othomanikou Kratous kai tis Diasporas [Regulations of Greek Orthodox communities of the Ottoman Empire and diaspora], vol. I (Thessaloniki: Kyriakidis Press).

Konstantinos Tsoukalas (1987) Exartisi kai Anaparagogi: o rolos ton ekpaideftikon michanismon stin Ellada [Dependency and reproduction: the social role of educational mechanisms in Greece] (Athens: Themelio Press). See also Dimitrios Stamatopoulos (2006) From Millets to Minorities in the 19th-Century Ottoman Empire: an ambiguous modernization, in Gudmundur Halfadanarson & Ann Katherine Isaacs (Eds) Citizenship in Historical Perspective (Pisa: Pisa University Press), pp. 253–273.

Papastathis, Oi Kanonismoi ton Orthodoxon Ellinikon Koinotiton; C. Ozturk (2000) The Emergence of Modern Education in the Ottoman Empire (1776–1876), in Nikos. P. Terzis (Ed.) Education in the Balkans: from the Enlightenment to the foundation of the nation-states (Thessaloniki: Kyriakidis Press), pp. 89-108. For the limits of the pursued reforms, see James J. Reid (1999) Was there a Tanzimat Social Reform?, Balkan Studies, 40, pp. 173–208.

Papastathis, Oi Kanonismoi ton Orthodoxon Ellinikon Koinotiton.

For education features in different communities, see for example, Sophia Vouri (1988) H Ellιniki Ekpaidefsi sto Santzaki Monasthriou 1870–1904 [Greek education in the County of Monastiri 1870–1904] (Ph.D. thesis, University of Ioannina); Katerina I. Dalakoura (2008) H Ekpaidefsi ton Gynaikon stis Ellikes Koinotites tis Othomanikis Aftokratorias (19os ai.—1922): koinonikopoiisi sta protypa tis patriarchias kai tou ethnikismou [Education of women in the Greek communities of the Ottoman Empire (19th c.—1922): women's socialization, patriarchy, and nationalism] (Athens: Gutenberg Press).

Dalakoura, H Ekpaidefsi ton Gynaikon stis Ellikes Koinotites tis Othomanikis Aftokratorias.

Ibid.

Paschalis Kitromolidis (1996) Neoellinikos Diafotismos: oi politikes kai koinonikes idees [Greek Enlightenment: political and social tenets] (Athens: Cultural Foundation of National Bank Press).

See the convictions of two celebrated Greek Enlighteners, Theophilos Kairis and Adamandios Korais: Dimitrios I. Polemis (1999) Allilografia Theophilou Kairi. Epistolai pros Evanthian Kairi 1815–1866 [Correspondence of Theophilos Kairis. Letters to Evanthia Kairi 1815–1816], vol. IV (Andros: Kaireios Library Press); Konstantinos Koumas (1820) Syntagma Philosophias [Constitution of philosophy], vol. IV (Vienna: I Shneirer).

Tsoukalas, Exartisi kai Anaparagogi; D. Miskova (2006 ) In Quest of Balkan Occidentalism, Tokovi Istorije, 1–2, pp. 29–62; Dimitris Tziovas (Ed.) (2003) Greece and the Balkans: identities, perceptions and cultural encounters since the Enlightenment (Aldershot: Ashgate).

Dalakoura, H Ekpaidefsi ton Gynaikon stis Ellinikes Koinotites tis Othomanikis Aftokratorias.

For girls' education in Greece see Sidiroula Ziogou-Karastergiou (1986) H Mesi Ekpaidefsi ton Koritsion 1830 1893 (Greek girls' secondary education, 1830–1893) (Athens: Historical Records of Greek Youth Press); Eleni Fournaraki (1987) Ekpaidefsi kai Agogi ton Koritsion [Education and upbringing of girls] (Athens: Historical Records of Greek Youth Press).

Anon. (1855) Kanonismos tis en Stavrodromio Sxolis ton Aporon Korasion [Regulation of the school for pauper girls in Stavrodromi] (Istanbul: A. Koromila & P. Paspalli Press), p. 3.

Maria. I. Rota (1846) Kanonismos tou en Konstantinoupolei Ellinikou Parthenagogeiou [Regulation of the Greek School for Girls in Istanbul] (Istanbul: Nonesuch Press), p. 1.

Anon. (1858) Kanonismos tou en Smyrni Ellinikou Parthenagogeiou ypo S. Leondiados Diefthynomenou [Regulation of the Greek School for Girls in Smyrna. Directed by S. Leondias] (Izmyr: I. Magnis Press), p. 24.

Dalakoura, H Ekpaidefsi ton Gynaikon stis Ellinikes Koinotites is Othomanikis Aftokratorias.

Anon. (1863) Kanonismos tou Parhtenagogeiou tis Agias Foteinis [Regulation of the Aghia Foteini School for Girls] (Smyrna: Nonesuch Press), p. 9.

Ibid.

Anon., Kanonismos tou en Smyrni Ellinikou Parthenagogeiou, p. 15.

Anon., Kanonismos tis en Stavrodromio Sxolis, p. 11.

For the standards described, see also Anon. (1861) Kanonismos ton en Samo Parthenagogeion [Regulation of the Schools for Girls of Samos] (Chios: ‘Korais’ Library); Charisios Anastasiadis (1864) Kanonismos tou Ellinikou Parthenagogeiou Ch. Anastadiadi [Regulation of Ch. Anastasiadi's Greek School for Girls] (Smyrna: Nonesuch Press); Ermis (Hermes) (Thessaloniki, 1 July 1877), p. 2.

Dalakoura, H Ekpaidefsi ton Gynaikon stis Ellinikes Koinotites is Othomanikis Aftokratorias; Ziogou-Karastergiou, H Mesi Ekpaidefsi ton Koritsion.

Sappho Leontias (1858) Peri Pilitismou: logos ekphonitheis tin 14 Augostou kath' in imeran etelesthisan ta egainia tou en Smyrni ellinikou parthenagogeiou [On civilization: inaugural lecture on foundation of the Greek school for girls in Smyrni] (Smyrna: Amaltheia Press); Grigorios G. Papadopoulos (1866) Peri Gynaikos kai Ellinidos [On Greek woman] (Athens: L.D. Villara Press).

Anon., Kanonismos tou Parhtenagogeiou tis Agias Foteinis, p. 8.

Rota, Kanonismos tou en Konstantinoupolei, p. 10.

Paschalis Kitromilidis (1983) The Enlightenment and Womanhood: cultural change and the politics of exclusion, Journal of Modern Greek Studies, 1(1), pp. 39–61.

Ann Therese de Lambert (1819) Parainesis Mitros pros Thygatera [Counsels of a mother to her daughter], trans. Rallou Soutzou (Venice: N. Glykys), originally published in Paris under the title Avis d' une Mere a sa Fille, 1734.

Ermis (Hermes) (Thessaloniki, 17 January 1878), pp. 1–2.

Georgios Manousos (1884) Paidagogiki Diaititiki kai Paidagogia itoi Oikiakos kai Scholikos Odigos pros Paidagogisin Amphoteron ton Fylon [Pedagogy: a guide for upbringing and educating male and female children] (Athens: Kallos Prss).

Konstantinos S. Xanthopoulos (1873) Proti kai Mesi Ekpaidefsis kai Pei Anatrophis kai Ekpaidefseos ton Korasion [Girls' primary and secondary education. Nurture and education of girls] (Athens: Perri Press), p. 228.

Eleni Varika (1987) H Exegersi ton Kyrion: i genesi mias feministikis syneidisis stin Ellada 1833–1907 [The revolt of the ladies: formation of a feminist consciousness in Greece 1833–1907] (Athens: Commercial Bank's Foundation for Research and Culture).

Kalliopi Kechaghia (1880) Paidagogikai Meletai itoi Logoi Ekphonithentes en to Zappeio [Pedagogical essays: speeches delivered at Zappeion school for girls] (Istanbul: Boutyra Press), pp. 22–23.

For the negation of the West European ethos and morals see Kalliopi Kechaghia (1880) Egolpion Paidagogikon i Symvoulai tines pros tas Apophoitosas Zappidas [Handbook of pedagogy: advices to graduates of Zappeion Girls' School] (Istanbul: Boutyra Press).

Association for the Spread of the Greek Letters et al. (1904) Proton Ellinikon Paidgogikon Synedrion 31 Martiou- 4 Apriliou [Proceedings of the First Greek Educational Conference 31 March–4th April 1904] (Athens: Office of the Organizing Committee), p. 194.

The national role, assigned to women by the nationalistic discourse, provided the women's movement (which appeared in Greece in the late 1880s) with arguments in favour of women's emancipation. See Eleni Varika (1993) Gender and National Identity in fin de siècle Greece, Gender & History, 5(2), pp. 269–283; Efi Avdela & Angelika Psarra (2005) Engendering ‘Greekness’: women's emancipation and irredentist politics in nineteenth century Greece, Mediterranean Historical Review, 20(1), 67–79.

For a detailed analysis of the aforementioned parameters, see Dalakoura, H Ekpaidefsi ton Gynaikon stis Ellinikes Koinotites is Othomanikis Aftokratorias. Regarding the Greek State's involvement in communities' education, see, Sophia Bouri (1992) Ekpaidefsi kai Ethnikismos sta Balkania: I periptosi tis Boreiodytikis Makedonias 1870–1904 [Education and nationalism in the Balkans: the case of North-West Macedonia 1870–1904] (Athens: Paraskinio Press).

Kechaghia, Paidagogikai Meletai, pp. 21–23.

Ibid, pp. 37–38.

Kechaghia, Egolpion Paidagogikon, pp. 256–257.

Kechaghia, Paidagogikai Meletai, pp. 21–23

Association for the Spread of the Greek Letters, Proton Ellinikon Paidgogikon Synedrion, pp. 208–209.

Ibid., pp. 176–213.

See Elli Scopetea (2003) The Balkans and the Notion of the Crossroads between East and West, in Tziovas, Greece and the Balkans, pp. 171–176.

Observed in the district of Filippoupolis (Plovdiv) and the towns of East Pomylia (nowadays part of Bulgaria), as well as North-West Macedonia; see Bouri, Ekpaidefsi kai Ethnikismos; Xanthippi Kotzageorgi (1997) H Elliniki Ekpaidefsi sti Boulgaria 1800–1914 [Greek education in Bulgaria, 1800–1914] (Thessaloniki: Faestos Press).

Ibid. See also Tsoukalas, Exartisi kai Anaparagogogi.

See Vasilis C. Gounaris (1993) Steam over Macedonia 1870–1912: socio-economic change and the railway factor (New York: Columbia University Press); Klaus-Detlef Grothusen, Jose-Gentil Da Silva, Hermann Gross et al. (1980) Eksygxronismos kai Viomichaniki Epanastasi sta Balkania 19os ai. [Mondernization and industrial revolution in the Balkans 19th c.] (Athens: Themelio Press).

In Thessaloniki, for example, in 1908 two-thirds of the Greek population of the city consisted of labourers, servants, craftsmen and small merchants. See Kostis Moskof (1974) Thessaloniki 1700–1912: tomi tis metapratikis Polis [Thessaloniki 1700–1912: dissection of a comprador city] (Athens: Stochastis Press).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katerina Dalakoura

Katerina Dalakoura is an Assistant Professor in the History of Education at the Department of Philosophy and Social Studies, University of Crete. Her teaching and research relate to the history of education in Greece and in Ottoman Greek communities from the late eighteenth to the twentieth century. Her research interests focus on the history of Ottoman Greek women's education, the Enlightenment and womanhood and the print culture of Greek women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Her publications include: (2000) Thessaloniki's Central School for Girls (1854–1914): a first approach to girls' education in Thessaloniki during the last century of the Ottoman Empire [in Greek] (Thessaloniki: Kyriakidis Press); (2008) Education of Women in the Greek Communities of the Ottoman Empire (19th c.–1922): women's socialization, patriarchy, and nationalism [in Greek] (Athens: Gutenberg Press).