Lata szkolne we wspomnieniach pamiętnikarzy czasów stanisławowskich (1764–1795)

Abstract

School years in the memories of the diarists of the Stanislavian times recorded in quite a surprising way. A clear mark on them was left by the downfall of the Republic of Poland. The diarists that were aware of the importance of 1795 marked these youthful years with the stigma of responsibility for the fate of their homeland, and it is this prism that influences the way that their recollections of experiences at school are recorded. Hence, they did not describe the fun and mischief, but seriously considered what should upbringing, education and school look like, what to do to educate a good citizen, one who would answer the needs of the homeland. For those diarists, the school period and the time of education are very important matters, even of national importance. In turn, memoirists, who wrote their histories or stories about parts of their lives up to the collapse of the Polish-Lithuanian state, did not pay much attention to matters connected with the development of appropriate attitudes of young people. They were more likely to manifest their adult road to honours. The feeble interest in the sphere of youthful experiences manifested by the diarists who did not experience the 1795, possibly shows the more true nature of a citizen, but also depicts the meaning of these times in the life of an adult citizen from the Stanislavian period. For him, it is only the road to the adult “political-public” life which crowns the earthly existence of a citizen.