Amalia Holst

Amalia Holst (née Amalia von Justi; 1758–1829) was a German writer, intellectual, and feminist. Her work examined traditional pedagogy and challenged Enlightenment writers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau. She is often called the German counterpart to Mary Wollstonecraft.[1]

Life

Holst was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Gottlob Justi.[1] Her father died in Küstrin Prison when she was thirteen. Holst supported herself through teaching from a young age, and eventually became the director of a school.[2]

Work

In 1791, her work Observations on the Errors of Our Modern Education by a Practical Teacher (German: Bemerkungen über die Fehler unserer modernen Erziehung von einer praktischen Erzieherinn) was published. The work examined conservative teaching methods. As an educator, in 1802, she published On the Purpose of Woman's Advanced Intellectual Development (German: Über die Bestimmung des Weibes zur höhern Geistesbildung) which promoted equal education for women and protested concepts put forth by Enlightenment writers.[1]

Legacy

Holst is memorialized in Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party installation.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sotiropoulos, Carol Strauss (2004). "Scandal Writ Large in the Wake of the French Revolution: The Case of Amalia Holst". Women in German Yearbook. 20: 98–121. JSTOR 20688974.
  2. ↑ Gray, Marion W. (2000). Productive Men, Reproductive Women: The Agrarian Household and the Emergence of Separate Spheres During the German Enlightenment. New York: Berghahn Books. p. 224. ISBN 1571811729.
  3. ↑ "Amelia Holst". The Dinner Party: Heritage Floor. Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
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