Cecylia Plater-Zyberk

Cecylia Plater-Zyberk, Plater coat of arms, (born 8 May 1853 in Pass, Poland - died 6 January 1920 in Warsaw) was a social activist, educationalist, publicist and religious. She founded several schools and charitable societies. Life Cecylia Plater-Zyberk was the daughter and eighth child of Count Kazimierz Plater-Zyberk and Ludwika, née Borewicz. On her father's side she was descended from two illustrious German families: the Plater von Broëls from Westphalia and the Syberg zu Wischling clan originally from the Ruhr, who arrived in Courland with the Teutonic Order. After home-schooling on the family estate, "Schlossberg" in Courland, she attended the Sacred Heart school in Posen. During 1879-1880 she attended a craft school in Paris. On her return, she settled in Warsaw where she qualified as a master tailor. In 1880 she entered the convent of the Messengers of Mother Mary in Warsaw - a religious institute that did not use the habit. For a number of years she was the superior of the Warsaw house. In 1883 Plater-Zyberk founded a craft school for girls followed in 1886 by a girls' secondary school. In 1917 it achieved full recognition by the Education Authority. It was revived in 1993 as a private secondary girls school named after Cecylia Plater-Zyberk. Her second foundation was in Chyliczki in 1891, this time an agricultural school, also intended for girls. It became the Chyliczki agricultural High school. After the Second world war and Poland's return to full independence, the school is now called the "Cecylia Plater-Zyberk Centre for Continuing Rural Education".