Maria Grzegorzewska (18 April 1887 – 7 May 1967) was a Polish educator who brought the special education movement to Poland. Born to a family from the Żmudź region, she was strongly influenced by her parents' beliefs in humanitarianism. After attending clandestine schools to earn her basic education from Polish rather than Russian educators, she obtained her teaching credentials in Lithuania. She continued her education at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and in 1913 joined her countrywoman, Józefa Joteyko in Brussels to study at the International Paedological Faculty. When her studies in Belgium were interrupted by World War I, Grzegorzewska made her way to Paris and earned her PhD from the Sorbonne in 1916.
After the establishment of the Second Polish Republic in 1918, Grzegorzewska returned to Poland intent upon creating programs which addressed the needs of disabled children and introducing educational reforms to improve their lives. In 1919, she began working for the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Education, establishing facilities for the care of disabled children, schools for special education, and training programs for teachers. Using her own methodology, she designed curriculum which in 1922 was implemented at the newly founded (). She directed this institute from its founding until her death.
During World War II, Grzegorzewska worked as a nurse, was active in the Polish resistance movement, and taught in Warsaw. She joined Żegota and provided assistance to Jews. When Poland was liberated in 1945, Grzegorzewska reactivated the Special Education Institute and within five years introduced graduate and extramural courses to the curricula. In 1950, during the implementation of Stalinist doctrine in Poland, the school was renamed the State College of Special Education () and a state curricula was introduced. She struggled against the state program, wanting to protect special education and people with disabilities. After the 1956 thaw, the institute regained governmental support and reverted to its initial name. Between 1957 and 1960, was a full professor at the University of Warsaw. Her work in science and for the Polish education system were honored with numerous awards and distinctions.
Early life
Maria Stefania Grzegorzewska was born on 18 April 1887 in Wołucza, a village in the Kingdom of Poland of the Russian Empire to Felicja (née Bogdanowicz) and Adolf Grzegorzewski. Both of her parents were from Żmudź, a region in modern-day Lithuania, and had moved to Wołucza, where they leased an estate. Her father served as the estate administrator and also oversaw neighboring farms, advocating for modernization of agricultural practices and humane treatment of workers. Her mother was involved in social projects to help local villagers and provided medical care in their community. The youngest of six siblings, including Zenon, Wanda, Helena, Witold and Władysław, Grzegorzewska was influenced by her parents' sense of duty to their community. From a young age, she developed a sense of social responsibility.
In 1900, when Grzegorzewska began her education in Poland, Russification programs caused many parents to send their children to clandestine private schools so that they could study Polish culture and language. She studied at a boarding school in Warsaw operated by Mrs. Kotwicki for four years and then entered Paulina Hewelke's school, completing an additional three years of schooling before graduating in 1907. She immediately entered a one-year, university preparatory course led by Ludwik Krzywicki from the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Warsaw. During her studies, she met and became involved with a group of social activists which included , , and Stefania Sempołowska. Participating in the socialist youth underground and providing education for workers brought her to the attention of the tsarist police, forcing Grzegorzewska to flee to Lithuania. In Lithuania, she earned a diploma as a private teacher and took in students in their homes to earn money to enter university.