Japan Society for the Promotion of Science:Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Date (from‐to) : 2003 -2005
Author : OKUMURA Misa
France has long been considered as an "under-developed" country by the U.K. and the U.S. as far as feminism is concerned. It might be partly true, when one talks about the suffrage of women and the activities of suffragettes. It was not until 1945 that French women were allow to vote. But through this research, we found out that in the fields of charitable works and education to children, French women were far ahead compared with their counterparts in Anglo Saxon Societies.
Interestingly, the main actors in those fields were the nuns. They started to establish the religious orders as early as 15th century. But it was in the 17^
century that women religious orders flourished and the nuns began to be involved in charitable works and education. In this research, we took the Order of Saint Maur Sisters as an example. The sisters started their work in 17^
century France under Louis XIV reign. They established many boarding schools for girls all over the country but during the time of French Revolution, the religious orders were persecuted and forced to close the schools.
We mainly focused on the missions of Saint Maur sisters in 19^
century in Malaya and in Japan. They established many mission schools in those areas. We think there are reasons for their success. One reason was the separation of the church and the state in France. The Religious orders were eliminated from the public education in France. That was one of the important elements to push the missionaries to overseas. The other reasons were the needs of the host countries. In this research, we analyzed the social situations in Malaya and in Japan which enabled the missionary to work in the educational fields. Lastly, we suggest to re-evaluate the women's religious orders' contribution to the field of women's education in Japan. As well.