Wanda Szuman

Wanda Szuman or Szumanówna (3 April 1890 – 1 December 1994) was a Polish educator. She was a "pioneer of special education in Poland" and worked particularly with orphans and children with special needs. She also participated in the underground education movement during World War II, teaching subjects that were forbidden by law at the time. She won multiple awards for her teaching during her lifetime.

Biography Szuman was born on 3 April 1890 in Toruń, Poland (then Prussia), and died on 1 December 1994, at the age of 104. Her mother died in 1895 and her father married her aunt, Emilia Osiecka (née Gumpert).

After Poland regained independence in the aftermath of World War I, Szuman became a Polish national. She also became involved in various educational activities in the new Poland, initially in the Toruń region. She was involved with a number of educational NGOs of that time. From 1933, she worked in Poznań where she was superintendent of a seminary.

She was active in underground education during World War II while living in Radom. After the war, she returned to Toruń where she organized and directed a high school. Due to her strong support for Catholicism, she was repressed by the communist authorities and lost her job in 1949; she would be rehabilitated in 1958. From 1949 to 1952, she worked as a school psychologist and therapist for children with special needs. She retired in 1952, but continued to be involved in a number of scholarly studies in the field of pedagogy and continued to work with organizations supporting special education, in particular related to helping blind children.

Recognition She is "considered a pioneer of special education in Poland". and in 1992 was given honorary citizenship of the city of Toruń. She also received Honorary Gold Badge of the (1966), Medal of the (1984), Badge of the Polish Teachers' Union "For Secret Teaching" (1985), and the Order of the Smile (1986). and elementary school (Szkoła Podstawowa Nr 16 im. Wandy Szuman w Toruniu), as is a nursery school.

A book about her, (Wanda Szuman—Child and Adult Special Educator: Sketches for a Portrait), was published in 2009 by . Zum Problem der Waisenerziehung [On the problem of raising orphans], 1929 Rola opiekunów społecznych [The role of social workers], 1930 Testy inteligencji Ch. Bühler dla niemowląt [Intelligence tests Ch. Buhler for babies], 1930 System umieszczania sierot w rodzinach [The system of placing orphans in families], 1931 Wychowanie niewidomego dziecka [Raising a Blind Child], 1961 O dostępności rysunku dla dzieci niewidomych [About the accessibility of drawing for blind children], 1967