The ‘Centre for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists’ at Paderborn University will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2026. This milestone was marked in a festive ceremony on Monday 27 July, attended by, amongst others, leading academics and international partners. Prof. Dr Ruth Edith Hagengruber, founder and director of the Centre and President of the German Society for Philosophy, had some powerful words to mark the anniversary: “For women to be able to shape their future, we must give them back their past. This thesis forms the mission statement of the Centre for Research into the History of Women’s Ideas. Women who are denied their history can be compared to people who have lost their memory. They are unable to build a personal identity or create a future for themselves.”
Founded in 2016 by Prof. Hagengruber, the Centre was the world’s first research organisation dedicated exclusively to the history of women philosophers and scientists. Over the past ten years, it has established itself as an internationally recognised centre for research, the digital humanities, critical editions and global academic collaboration.
The anniversary celebrations opened with a number of welcoming addresses from, amongst others, the University President, Prof. Dr Matthias Bauer, and Paderborn’s second deputy mayor, Sabine Kramm. This was followed by a retrospective for those present on ten years of pioneering research, which has fundamentally transformed the visibility of women philosophers in the history of ideas. During this period, the Centre has been involved in numerous international research projects, has created innovative digital resources, has published series with leading academic publishers, and has repeatedly collaborated with universities around the world. This latter aspect was once again particularly emphasised during the event, as two memoranda of understanding were signed on the spot with the University of the Philippines Diliman and the Islamic University of Science & Technology in Kashmir (India).
Elisabeth von Böhmen Prize awarded
In addition, this year’s Elisabeth von Böhmen Prize was awarded as part of the celebrations. The prize honours scholars whose work best recognises the contribution of women to the history of Philosophy. The prize, endowed by entrepreneur Dr Ulrike Detmers, was awarded this year to Dr. Dr Luka Boršić and Dr Ivana Skuhala Karasman from the University of Zagreb. They were recognised for their pioneering work in the systematic rediscovery of marginalised female philosophers in Croatia. Furthermore, they founded CIŽUF (Centar za istraživanje žena u filozofiji, Research Centre for Women in Philosophy), the first specialist centre in Croatia dedicated to researching and promoting women in Philosophy.
This text was translated automatically.
