Female education in the Middle Urals towns in the second half of XIX - early XX centuries (on the example of the Irbit Gymnasium)

The development of female education in Perm province through the example of the girls' gymnasium in the provincial town of Irbit is examined on the basis of archival documents. The author analyses the development of the gymnasium: having started as a parish school it became an 8-grade gymnasium. The process was combined with some difficulties, specific to provincial schools. In the beginning, those difficulties included urban environment of a merchant city, low cultural level of students, lack of qualified personnel, and the political situation in the country. Much attention is given to the societal attitudes towards female education. It is particularly noted that a big distance between the capital cities and provincial towns did not prevent the town's public to keep up with the times and to provide female students with excellent education and upbringing. The traditional position, according to which female high schools provided frivolous education and had a lower status in comparison to male gymnasiums, is denied. Attention is drawn to the fact that the desire to get an education was supported at all levels of the society.