Mariia Vernadska on the role and rights of women in the society of the second half of the 19th century

The role of women in the modern socio-economic life of Ukrainian society is still underestimated. Gender issues are perceived superficially or ignored, and sometimes remain taboo despite the significant number of national and foreign research and publications, information sources and materials. Blindness to issues of the equal rights and opportunities for women and men is deeply rooted in the stereotypes and traditional views on the role and place of women in the society. The purpose of the article is to analyze the scientific and journalistic activity of Mariia Vernadska. She was the first woman who researched political and economic problems in the Russian Empire. She actively interested in the economic issues and processes in the country and analyzed them, and published a number of articles in the journal «Ekonomicheskiy ukazatel», edited by Ivan Vernadsky who was a notable economist and statistician in the first half of the 19th century. The distinguishing feature of her articles was the comprehensible writing language to present and explain the complex economic laws and principles of the genesis of the market economy. Mariia Vernadska used this method to explain the benefits of division of labor, technological progress, free trade, cost sharing and cooperation, road quality, etc. She also criticized the regulation of commodity prices and persisted in the abolition of serfdom explaining its economic inefficiency and backwardness. Mariia Vernadska espoused the ideas of classical political economy, mainly the principle of individual freedom. This basic principle was used by her for interpretation of the women’s labor, the role of women in the society, the women’s rights to pick and choose the activities. She paid special attention to the necessity and the value of the women’s work as a basis for the equality between men and women. She emphasized that it could be achieved due to the education and fighting prejudices against the shame of women's working.