The popular University in Parahyba do norte: reflections on the law of women

Abstract

Women, from the turn of the nineteenth century to the twentieth century, began to play the leading role in the Brazilian public debate. Nísia Floresta translated and published "The Law of Women and the Injustice of Men" in 1832, the English writing, Mary Wollstonecraft, originally titled "Vindication of the Rights of Woman" in 1792. In Parahyba do Norte, in 1913, Catharina Moura, in a public conference at the Popular University, proclaimed a speech with the same title, retaking the theses defended by her predecessors. The purpose of this paper is to understand the educational project proposed by the women intellectuals who participated in the public debate, particularly Catharina Moura. The sources used are the periodicals and periodicals that were the writing support of these women, more specifically the Parahyban newspaper, A União. As a theoretical-methodological reference was used the History of Intellectuals that helps to understand the trajectory, generation and networks of sociabilities that have crossed the lives of these women, as well as the participation of them and the ideas that propagated in the public debate of the period. In this sense, it is possible to conclude that women acted as intellectuals positioning themselves in favor of female emancipation through school and cultural education. Catharina Moura was part of the tradition of women writers and engaged in the period, defending equal opportunities between men and women in the most diverse professions and also highlighting the legitimacy of the female vote.