Countess Blanka Teleki de Szék (5 July 1806 – 23 October 1862) was a Hungarian noblewoman, educator and women's rights activist. She is regarded as an early feminist and pioneer in the education of females.Francisca de Haan, Krasimira Daskalova & Anna Loutfi: Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms in Central, Easterna and South Eastern Europe, 19th and 20th centuries Central European University Press, 2006

Life

Blanka Teleki was born on 5 July 1806 in

Satulung Satulung ( Hungarian: ''Kővárhosszúfalu''; German: ''Langendorf'') is a commune in Maramureș County, Romania. Its name, translated in English, means "the long village". It is composed of seven villages: Arieșu de Pădure (''Erdőaranyos''), ...

in what is now Romania to Count Imre Teleki de Szék (1782-1848) and Countess Karoline Brunswick von Korompa (1782-1843). Her family had an estate in

Satu Mare County Satu Mare County ( ro, Județul Satu Mare, ) is a county (județ) of Romania, on the border with Hungary and Ukraine. The capital city is Satu Mare. Name In Hungarian, it is known as ''Szatmár megye'', in German as ''Kreis Sathmar'', in Ukrain ...

near Ukraine.Teleki Blanka
, Sulinet.hu, retrieved 18 July 2015 She was the niece of the education pioneer

Teréz Brunszvik Countess Therese onBrunsvik (in Hungarian Teréz Brunszvik, sometimes referred to in English as Therese Countess von Brunsvik or Brunswick) (July 27, 1775, Pozsony, Kingdom of Hungary – September 23, 1861, Pest, Kingdom of Hungary) was a mem ...

. She studied painting in

München Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, and sculpture under István Ferenczy in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. After having published her ideas regarding women's education, she founded her own school for girls in Budapest in 1846. In 1848, she and her pupils became the first females in Hungary to sign a petition demanding equal rights for men and women in Hungary, demanding women suffrage and the right for women to attend university. She participated in the

Revolution of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europ ...

, and was therefore sentenced to imprisonment. In 1851 she was imprisoned with Klára Leövey, who was released in 1856. After having served her sentence, she left Hungary for Paris and died there on 23 October 1862.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teleki, Blanka 1806 births 1862 deaths People from Maramureș County Hungarian women's rights activists Hungarian feminists 19th-century Hungarian people Blanka