Saint Petersburg State University

Saint Petersburg State University (SPbU) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It traces its origins to a decree by Peter the Great in 1724, which established it alongside the Academic Gymnasium and the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences. This makes it one of Russia’s oldest universities, with a consistent focus on fundamental research in science and engineering since its founding. The university is organized into 24 departments and institutes, plus the Academic Gymnasium, the Medical College, the College of Physical Culture and Sports, and the College of Economics and Technology.

1940–1999

Its two main campuses are located on Vasilievsky Island and in Peterhof. During the Soviet period, the institution was called Leningrad State University. In 1948, it was renamed after Andrei Zhdanov, becoming officially “Leningrad State University, named after A. A. Zhdanov and decorated with the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.” Zhdanov’s name was removed in 1989, and the city name changed from Leningrad to Saint Petersburg in 1992.

1724–1821

The university’s administration disputes whether SPbU or Moscow State University is Russia’s oldest higher education institution. Moscow State was founded in 1755, while SPbU has been in continuous operation only since 1819. However, the university claims to be the successor of the institution Peter the Great created on 24 January 1724. Between 1804 and 1819, the university officially did not exist; the original Saint Petersburg Academy was disbanded because the 1803 charter of the Academy of Sciences forbade it from having affiliated educational institutions.

In 1804, the Petersburg Pedagogical Institute was established, renamed the Main Pedagogical Institute in 1814, and housed in part of the Twelve Collegia building. On 8 February 1819 (Old Style), Tsar Alexander I reorganized this institute into Saint Petersburg University, which initially had three faculties: Philosophy and Law, History and Philology, and Physics and Mathematics. The Main Pedagogical Institute—where Dmitri Mendeleev studied—was revived in 1828 as a separate entity, training teachers until it closed in 1859.

1821–1917

In 1821, the university was renamed Saint Petersburg Imperial University. In 1823, most of its operations moved from the Twelve Collegia to the southern part of the city. The following year, a modified version of Moscow University’s charter became the university’s first official charter. By 1829, the university had 19 full professors and 169 full-time and part-time students.

In 1830, Tsar Nicholas returned the entire Twelve Collegia building to the university, and classes resumed there. A new Charter of the Imperial Universities of Russia, approved in 1835, established the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of History and Philology, and the Faculties of Physics and Mathematics, which were merged into the Faculty of Philosophy as its 1st and 2nd Departments. After the Spring of Nations in 1849, the Senate decreed that the rector would be appointed by the minister of national enlightenment rather than elected by the university assembly. Despite this, Pyotr Pletnyov was reappointed and became the longest-serving rector, holding the post from 1840 to 1861.

In 1855, Oriental studies split from the Faculty of History and Philology, and the Faculty of Oriental Languages was formally inaugurated on 27 August 1855. Between 1859 and 1861, female part-time students were allowed to attend lectures. In 1861, the university had 1,270 full-time and 167 part-time students, with the Faculty of Law being the largest subdivision, housing 498 students. That faculty included a cameral studies department where students studied safety, occupational health, environmental engineering, chemistry, biology, agronomy, law, and philosophy, producing many managers, engineers, and scientists from Russia and Georgia.

Student unrest erupted in 1861–62, leading to the university being temporarily closed twice. Students were denied freedom of assembly, placed under police surveillance, and public lectures were banned. Many students were expelled, and by 1865 only 524 remained. A decree by Emperor Alexander II on 18 February 1863 restored the university assembly’s right to elect the rector and created a new faculty of the theory and history of art within the history and philology faculty.

Smaller-scale unrest occurred in March 1869. By that year, 2,588 students had graduated. In 1880, the Ministry of National Enlightenment banned students from marrying and barred married persons from admission. Another student unrest took place in 1882.

A new Charter of the Imperial Russian Universities in 1884 again gave the minister of national enlightenment the power to appoint the rector. On 1 March 1887 (Old Style), a group of university students was arrested for plotting to assassinate Alexander III. This led to new admission rules in 1887, approved by Minister Ivan Delyanov, which barred non-noble persons from university admission unless they were exceptionally talented. By 1894, 9,212 students had graduated.