Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska: A Forgotten Economist from Poland

This article investigates the contribution made by Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska (1860-1934)—an economist, feminist and activist—to economic theory and practice. Her career was influenced by the situation of Poland and women at the turn of the 20th century. In her writings, Daszyńska-Golińska covered a wide range of issues, but her greatest accomplishments were in the area of demography, social policy and the role of women in the economy. Unfortunately, today her achievements are not widely known, neither in Poland, nor outside of its borders. Therefore, the aim of the article is to present her biography and discuss the main threads of her writings, which are currently available in digital archives of Polish and Swiss institutions. To contextualise our reflections, we compare Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska with a much better-known Polish female economist of that time—Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919). We claim that Daszyńska-Golińska was an important but forgotten forerunner of theories of demographic transition, social policy, and women’s emancipation.