Dr. Szabó Lajos: Nők a magyar sportban (A Sportmúzeum Kincsei 3. Budapest, 2003)

compulsory education was announced, learning and education became available for the girls of lower social strata who learned about certain types of sports within physical education. In 1833, the wife of Clair Ignotius, a French officer, founded the Gymnastics School of Pest, where girls studied the elements of German and Swedish gymnastics. Riding, fencing, and from the middle of the 19th century, skating and tennis became more and more important for aristocratic women. The fashion magazines of the age often depicted women participating in some kind of sport. In 1830, the first swimming-pool was opened and for certain days it was open only for women. The long distance "Dunaswimming" (Danube) often had female participants. One of the most well-known of them was Klára Petzke, who won an international Duna-swimming competition in Vienna. Since the Compromise with Austria in 1867 which created the dual monarchy, the spread of modern sports and their associations accelerated. Middle-class women also participated in sport events. Their ideal was Elisabeth, wife of Franz Joseph, who was well-known of her brilliant riding and love for sports. When she was in Hungary in Gödöllő, she had sports equipment fitted in her room. Typical sports for women were tennis and skating. The first Hungarian tennis championship title was won by a woman Paulina Pálffy in 1894. In one of the parks of Budapest an artificial pond was built where skating became very popular during the winter. The women were also in the majority in the Budapest Skating Club. In addition, fencing and walking became very popular among women. Technical sports (such as cycling) also started to spread among women at the beginning of the I880's In 1883, a famous publisher from Vienna, Viktor Silberer, introduced his Zeppelin in Hungary, and took a women, Ilka Pálmay, for a ride. Elek Matolay, leader of the National/Hungarian Gymnastics Club wrote in his book History of Gymnastics: "Gymnastics for women does not differ from that of men, only the exercises have to be adapted to their body. Women also need skills, health, outdoor activity, just like boys." In 1889, the magazine Herkules published an article in which it was written: "Prejudices have to disappear. It should not be a shocking thing if we see a woman skating, riding, fencing, playing ball games. It was no longer fashionable to be nervous, impatient, capricious. We will never reach a healthy Hungary that way." From the beginning of the 1900's, a wider range of women became acquainted with different types of sports during the school P.E. lessons. The first secondary school for women was founded in 1896 in Budapest, by Mrs. Veres. Sports teams of the schools could improve sports relations. The first political organization for women was the Union of Feminists. In the magazine Woman and Society they fought for total equality in sports, too. Several political organisations were formed. One of them was the Christian