| Author | Magdalena Ożarska |
|---|---|
| Title | Beyond the Old Polish “hic mulier”: Regina Salomea née Rusiecka, secundo voto Pilsztynowa, and her memoir |
| Keywords | hic mulier, Old Polish literature, women’s memoirs |
| Pages | 141-156 |
| Full text | |
| Volume | 29 |
The 1760 memoirs of the first Polish woman doctor, Regina Salomea Rusiecka, were not published until 1957 (in Polish). The author, however, clearly meant the manuscript for publication, having edited it and bestowed on it the title of My Life’s Travels and Adventures (Polish: Proceder podróży i życia mego awantur). So far, Pilsztynowa has been the object of attention to researchers in women’s history and historians of medicine. As for her writing style, it has been remarked that it differs from contemporary Polish travel writing in its lack of Baroque ornamentation or fondness for Latinism, attributed to Pilsztynowa’s evident lack of formal education. Basing on Pilsztynowa’s memoirs, my objective is to focus on her emotions, expressed in a non-explicit manner in her text. Her memoir carries a heavy emotional load, which locates her self-portait far beyond the typical “hic mulier” image.