Count Sergey Semionovich Uvarov (russian: Граф Серге́й Семёнович Ува́ров; 5 September
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Biography
Uvarov, connected through marriage with the powerful
Razumovsky
The House of Razumovsky or Rozumovsky (, Ukrainian: ''Розумовський'', German: ''Razumofsky'') is the name Imperial Russian noble family of Zaporozhian Cossack origin from Siveria. The main family line became extinct in the 19th cen ...
family, published a number of works on
Ancient Greek literature
Ancient Greek literature is literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, are ...
and
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
, which brought him European renown. A confirmed
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
, he was on friendly terms with
Alexander Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister ...
,
Madame de Stael Madame may refer to:
* Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French
* Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel
* ''Madame'' ...
,
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
,
Prince de Ligne
Prince of Ligne is a title of Belgian nobility that belongs to the House of Ligne, which goes back to the eleventh century. It owes its name to the village in which it originated, between Ath and Tournai. The lords of Ligne belonged to the en ...
,
Nikolay Karamzin
Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin (russian: Николай Михайлович Карамзин, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ kərɐmˈzʲin; ) was a Russian Imperial historian, romantic writer, poet and critic. He is best remembered for ...
, and
Vasily Zhukovsky
Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (russian: Василий Андреевич Жуковский, Vasiliy Andreyevich Zhukovskiy; – ) was the foremost Russian poet of the 1810s and a leading figure in Russian literature in the first half of the 19 ...
. Uvarov studied in
Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...
, and from 1811 to 1822, he curated the
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
educational district.
In 1832, Uvarov was appointed Deputy
Minister of National Education, succeeding his father-in-law Count
Aleksey Kirillovich Razumovsky. He was elected an Honorable Member of the
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...
in 1811 and was the president of that venerable institution from 1818 until his death. In the wake of the
Decembrist revolt
The Decembrist Revolt ( ru , Восстание декабристов, translit = Vosstaniye dekabristov , translation = Uprising of the Decembrists) took place in Russia on , during the interregnum following the sudden death of Emperor Al ...
of 1825, the tsar moved to protect the status quo by centralizing the educational system. He wanted to neutralize the threat of foreign ideas and what he ridiculed as "pseudo-knowledge." However, Uvarov quietly promoted
academic freedom
Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teac ...
and autonomy, raised academic standards, improved facilities, and opened higher education to the middle classes. By 1848 the tsar, fearing the political upheavals in the West might cause uprisings in Europe, ended Uvarov's innovations.
Uvarov was responsible for coming up with the formula "
Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality
Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality (russian: Правосла́вие, самодержа́вие, наро́дность, Pravoslávie, samoderzhávie, naródnost'), also known as Official Nationality,Riasanovsky, p. 132 was the dominant imper ...
", the basis of his activities regarding public education. According to Uvarov’s theory, the Russian folk (narod) is very religious and devoted to the Emperor, so the Orthodox religion and Autocracy are unconditional bases of the existence of Russia. Nationality (''Narodnost'') is deemed to be the necessity to follow independent national traditions and to fight foreign influence. The theory stated that it was necessary to reject western ideas –
freedom of thinking
Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints.
Overview
Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency by ...
,
freedom of personality
Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving one ...
,
individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reli ...
,
rationalism
In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy' ...
which were considered by Orthodox religion as dangerous and rebel thinking. The chief of Russian political police (the III Department of His Majesty Personal Chancellery)
Alexander von Benckendorff
Konstantin Alexander Karl Wilhelm Christoph Graf von Benckendorff (russian: Александр Христофорович Бенкендорф, Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf, – ) was a Baltic German Cavalry General and statesman, A ...
wrote that “''the past of Russia was wonderful, the present is splendid and the future is above all dreams''”. These three concepts were considered as "pillar-walls" of the Russian Empire. He worked to limit access to education by people of non-noble origin and strengthening governmental control over the universities and
gymnasiums, once famously remarking, "No university
Pugachevs." It means that only a small part of Russian population (only noble ones, many of them of foreign descent) had the possibility to get the education; it was almost impossible for Russian non-nobles to get access to education. Within this meaning, the ''Narodnost'' (Nationality) meant that Russian folk had to stay away from education (Western influence) in order to preserve the folks' pure Russian national character.
The universities were small and closely monitored, especially the potentially dangerous philosophy departments. Their main mission was to train a loyal, athletic, masculinized senior bureaucracy that avoided the effeminacy of office work.
Despite these reactionary measures, Uvarov was also responsible for laying the foundations of high-quality education in Russia and reinstating the practice of sending Russian scientists abroad. Unfortunately all his deeds and acts were a dead contribution into Russian educational system, because almost 99% of Russian population (non-nobles, folk) were prohibited from getting education, no matter how talented they were.
Uvarovite
Uvarovite is a chromium-bearing garnet group species with the formula: Ca3 Cr2( Si O4)3. It was discovered in 1832 by Germain Henri Hess who named it after Count Sergei Semenovitch Uvarov (1765–1855), a Russian statesman and amateur mineral ...
, the rarest of
garnet
Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives.
All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms, but differ in chemical composition. The different s ...
s, is named after him. His son
Aleksey Uvarov
Count Aleksey Sergeyevich Uvarov (Russian: Алексей Сергеевич Уваров; 28 February 1825 – 29 December 1884) was a Russian archaeologist often considered to be the founder of the study of the prehistory of Russia.
Biography
...
co-founded the
Russian Archaeological Society and the
State Historical Museum
The State Historical Museum ( Russian: Государственный исторический музей, ''Gosudarstvenny istoricheskiy muzyey'') of Russia is a museum of Russian history
The history of Russia begins with the histories of ...
in Moscow.
Uvarov's known relationship was with Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich Dondukov-Korsakov, who, according to persistent rumors reflected in Pushkin's scurrilous
epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
, was owed his appointment in the Academy of Sciences to his homosexual relationship with Uvarov.
[Marinus Antony Wes, ''Classics in Russia 1700-1855: Between Two Bronze Horsemen (2015), p. 312]
Selected works
* Ouvaroff, M. (alternatively given as Sergei Semenovich Uvarov, or Sergey Uvarov, 1786-1855) (Translated from the French by J. D. Price
''Essay on the Mysteries of Eleusis'' London : Rodwell and Martin, 1817.
* Ouvaroff, Sergei, "Projet d'une Académie Asiatique," in ''Études de philologie et de critique''. 2nd ed. (Paris: Didot Frères, 1845), 1-48
References
*
Whittaker, Cynthia H. (1984). ''The Origins of Modern Russian Education: An Intellectual Biography of Count Sergei Uvarov, 1786 - 1855''. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uvarov, Sergey
1786 births
1855 deaths
Politicians of the Russian Empire
Education ministers
Members of the State Council (Russian Empire)
Members of the Russian Academy
Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences
Russian classical scholars
Counts of the Russian Empire
Russian people of Tatar descent
LGBT writers from Russia
LGBT politicians from Russia
Russian duellists