The research project examines the life and work of the Polish scholarly couple, Seweryna Duchińska and Franciszek Duchiński, in the 19th century. Following their emigration from the Russian Empire, they established their primary base of activity in France. Despite significant methodological flaws, Duchiński managed to establish himself as a sought-after expert on Eastern Europe in various Western European countries with his controversial thesis on the non-Slavic origins of the “Great Russians.” His wife, Seweryna, who was central to his intellectual endeavours and an esteemed translator, poet, and ethnographer in her own right, has largely been overlooked in previous research.
My project seeks to investigate the dynamics of this scholarly partnership and aims to contribute to an understanding of female agency within the transnational scientific community of the 19th century. Methodologically, the project draws on imperial biographical research and digital correspondence analysis to explore transnational entanglements. This research is situated within current academic discourses on female agency, expertise, and national identities in the 19th century.
See for a more detailed description: https://histonet19.hypotheses.org/3348
Sven Jaros is a PostDoc Researcher at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg / Aleksander Brückner Center for Polish Studies.