International Day of Defending Women's Rights and International Peace

March 8 in Ukraine and many countries around the world celebrate International Women's Day, which is also called the Day of Struggle for Women's Rights and International Peace.

From the middle of the 19th century, women began organizing rallies to achieve equal rights. It was these events that led to the emergence of the holiday.

In particular, women also had to defend their right to education. At that time, women could attend lectures at universities only as free listeners. Karazin University was one of the first to initiate a discussion of the problems of women's higher education.

In February 1861, home teacher Lyudmila Ozhygina wrote a request to the trustee of the Kharkiv educational district, Dmytro Levshin, in which she asked for permission to listen to medical lectures with the goal of obtaining a doctor's degree. The university council supported this aspiration, but it was not approved at the highest level.

The outstanding pedagogue and educator Khrystyna Alchevska, who founded a model girls' school in Kharkiv, in 1870 passed the exams for the title of public teacher at the Karazin University.

In 1910, the Academic Council of Karazin University elected the historian Oleksandra Yefimenko as an honorary doctor. This was a first for the practice at the time.

The first professor to teach at the Karazin University was Clara Roll, a chemist by profession, in 1935.

International Women's Day arose as a symbol of the struggle for women's rights, their social, political and economic equality. The holiday reminds us of the importance of support, recognition and respect for women in our society.

Today, Ukrainian women are real heroines who not only successfully realize themselves. They protect their native land and fight for the freedom and independence of Ukraine, on the front and in the rear, volunteer, treat and save lives.

We wish all the women happiness, health, well-being, harmony, inspiration, love and be loved!