Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
in
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 ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. Founded in 1724 by a decree of
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
, the university from the beginning has had a focus on fundamental research in science, engineering and humanities.
During the
Soviet period
The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...
, it was known as Leningrad State University (russian: Ленинградский государственный университет). It was renamed after
Andrei Zhdanov
Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov ( rus, Андре́й Алекса́ндрович Жда́нов, p=ɐnˈdrej ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐdanəf, links=yes; – 31 August 1948) was a Soviet politician and cultural ideologist. After World War ...
in 1948 and was officially called "Leningrad State University, named after A. A. Zhdanov and decorated with the
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...
and the
Order of the Red Banner of Labour
The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...
." Zhdanov's was removed in 1989 and Leningrad in the name was officially replaced with Saint Petersburg in 1992.
It is made up of 24 specialized faculties (departments) and institutes, the Academic Gymnasium, the Medical College, the College of Physical Culture and Sports, Economics and Technology. The university has two primary campuses: one on
Vasilievsky Island
Vasilyevsky Island (russian: Васи́льевский о́стров, Vasilyevsky Ostrov, V.O.) is an island in St. Petersburg, Russia, bordered by the Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva Rivers (in the delta of the Neva River) in the south a ...
and the other one in
Peterhof.
International rankings
In international rankings, the university was ranked 35th by ''
The Three University Missions Ranking
The Three University Missions Moscow International University Ranking (MosIUR, also referred to as the Moscow Ranking) is a global ranking of academic universities developed by the Russian Association of Rating Makers, with the participation of t ...
'' in 2022, 242th by the ''
QS World University Rankings
''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...
'' in 2022, 607th by ''
U.S. News & World Report'' in 2021,
601-800th by the ''
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli ...
'',
and 301–400th by the ''
Academic Ranking of World Universities
The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...
'' in 2021.
History
1724–1821
It is disputed by the university administration whether Saint Petersburg State University or
Moscow State University
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
is the
oldest higher education institution in Russia. While the latter was established in 1755, the former, which has been in continuous operation since 1819, claims to be the successor of the university established along with the
Academic Gymnasium
The Academic Gymnasium Danzig (german: Akademisches Gymnasium Danzig, pl, Gdańskie Gimnazjum Akademickie, Latin: ''Gymnasium Dantiscanum'') was a school founded in Gdańsk, Poland. It was founded in 1558 by Johann Hoppe (1512–1565), who had p ...
and the
Saint Petersburg 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 ...
on 24 January 1724, by a decree of
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
.
Between 1804 and 1819, Saint Petersburg University officially did not exist; the institution founded by Peter the Great, the Saint Petersburg Academy, had been disbanded, because the new 1803 charter of the Academy of Sciences stipulated that there should not be any educational institutions affiliated with it.
The
Petersburg Pedagogical Institute
Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...
, renamed the Main Pedagogical Institute in 1814, was established in 1804 and occupied a part of the
Twelve Collegia
The Twelve Collegia, or Twelve Colleges (russian: Двeнaдцaть Коллегий), is the largest edifice from the Petrine era remaining in Saint Petersburg. It was designed by Domenico Trezzini and Theodor Schwertfeger and built from 1722 ...
building.
On 8 February 1819 (O.S.),
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.
The son of ...
reorganized the Main Pedagogical Institute into Saint Petersburg University, which at that time consisted of three faculties: Faculty of Philosophy and Law, Faculty of History and Philology and Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.
The
Main Pedagogical Institute
Saint Petersburg Imperial University (russian: Санкт-Петербургский Императорский университет) was a Russian university, higher education institution based in Saint Petersburg, one of the twelve Imperial u ...
(where
Dmitri Mendeleev
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (sometimes transliterated as Mendeleyev or Mendeleef) ( ; russian: links=no, Дмитрий Иванович Менделеев, tr. , ; 8 February Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._27_January.html" ;"title="O ...
studied) was restored in 1828 as an educational institution independent of Saint Petersburg University, and trained teachers until it was finally closed in 1859.
1821–1917
In 1821, the university was renamed Saint Petersburg Imperial University.
In 1823, most of the university moved from the Twelve Collegia to the southern part of the city. In 1824, a modified version of the charter of
Moscow University
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
was adopted as the first charter of the Saint Petersburg Imperial University. In 1829, there were 19 full professors and 169 full-time and part-time students at the university. In 1830,
Tsar Nicholas returned the entire building of the Twelve Collegia to the university, and courses resumed there.
In 1835, a new Charter of the Imperial Universities of Russia was approved. It provided for the establishment of 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 the 1st and 2nd Departments, respectively.
In 1849, after the
Spring of Nations
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...
, the Senate of the Russian Empire decreed the Rector should be appointed by the
Minister of National Enlightenment
This is a list of the Ministers of National Enlightenment of the Russian Empire, also translated as Ministers of National Education. The Minister was at the head of the Ministry of National Enlightenment (also translated as Ministry of National Ed ...
rather than elected by the Assembly of the university. However,
Pyotr Pletnyov
Pyotr Alexandrovich Pletnyov (russian: Пётр Александрович Плетнёв; , Tebleshi, Tver Governorate — ) was a minor Russian poet and literary critic, who rose to become the dean of the Saint Petersburg University (1840 ...
was reappointed Rector and ultimately became the longest-serving rector of Saint Petersburg University (1840–61).
In 1855,
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studi ...
were separated from the Faculty of History and Philology, and the fourth faculty, Faculty of Oriental Languages, was formally inaugurated on 27 August 1855.
In 1859–61, female part-time students could attend lectures in the university. In 1861, there were 1,270 full-time and 167 part-time students in the university, of them 498 were in the Faculty of Law, the largest subdivision. But this subdivision had the cameral studies department, where students learnt safety, occupational health and environmental engineering management and science, including chemistry, biology, agronomy along with law and philosophy. Many Russian, Georgian etc. managers, engineers and scientists studied at the Faculty of law therefore. During 1861–62, there was
student unrest
Campus protest or student protest is a form of student activism that takes the form of protest at university campuses. Such protests encompass a wide range of activities that indicate student dissatisfaction with a given political or academi ...
in the university, and it was temporarily closed twice during the year. The students were denied freedom of assembly and placed under police surveillance, and public lectures were forbidden. Many students were expelled. After the unrest, in 1865 only 524 students remained.
A decree of the Emperor
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Gra ...
adopted on 18 February 1863, restored the right of the university assembly to elect the rector. It also formed the new faculty of the theory and history of art as part of the faculty of history and philology.
In March 1869, student unrest shook the university again, but on a smaller scale. By 1869, 2,588 students had graduated from the university.
In 1880, the Ministry of National Enlightenment forbade students to marry and married persons could not be admitted. In 1882, another student unrest took place in the university. In 1884, a new Charter of the Imperial Russian Universities was adopted, which granted the right to appoint the rector to the
Minister of National Enlightenment
This is a list of the Ministers of National Enlightenment of the Russian Empire, also translated as Ministers of National Education. The Minister was at the head of the Ministry of National Enlightenment (also translated as Ministry of National Ed ...
again. On 1 March 1887 (O.S.),
a group of the university students was arrested while planning an attempt on the life of
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander III ( rus, Алекса́ндр III Алекса́ндрович, r=Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich; 10 March 18451 November 1894) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 18 ...
. As a result, new admission rules to gymnasiums and universities were approved by the Minister of National Enlightenment
Ivan Delyanov
Count Ivan Davidovich Delyanov () (December 12, 1818 in Moscow – January 10, 1898) was a Russian statesman of Armenian descent and a son of Delyanov David Artemyevich, a Major-General of the Russian Imperial Army.
Biography
Delyanov grad ...
in 1887, which barred persons of non-noble origin from admission to the university, unless they were extraordinarily talented.
By 1894, 9,212 students had graduated from the university. Among the scholars of the second half of the 19th century, affiliated with the university were mathematician
Pafnuty Chebyshev
Pafnuty Lvovich Chebyshev ( rus, Пафну́тий Льво́вич Чебышёв, p=pɐfˈnutʲɪj ˈlʲvovʲɪtɕ tɕɪbɨˈʂof) ( – ) was a Russian mathematician and considered to be the founding father of Russian mathematics.
Chebyshe ...
, physicist
Heinrich Lenz
Heinrich Friedrich Emil Lenz (; ; also Emil Khristianovich Lenz, russian: Эмилий Христианович Ленц; 12 February 1804 – 10 February 1865), usually cited as Emil Lenz or Heinrich Lenz in some countries, was a Russian physici ...
, chemists
Dmitri Mendeleev
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (sometimes transliterated as Mendeleyev or Mendeleef) ( ; russian: links=no, Дмитрий Иванович Менделеев, tr. , ; 8 February Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._27_January.html" ;"title="O ...
and
Aleksandr Butlerov
Alexander Mikhaylovich Butlerov (Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Бу́тлеров; 15 September 1828 – 17 August 1886) was a Russian chemist, one of the principal creators of the theory of chemical structure (1857–1861 ...
, embryologist
Alexander Kovalevsky
Alexander Onufrievich Kovalevsky (russian: Алекса́ндр Ону́фриевич Ковале́вский, 7 November 1840 in Vorkovo, Dvinsky Uyezd, Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire – 1901, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire) was a Russi ...
, physiologist
Ivan Sechenov
Doctor Ivan Mikhaylovich Sechenov (russian: Ива́н Миха́йлович Се́ченов; , Tyoply Stan (now Sechenovo) near Simbirsk, Russia – , Moscow), was a Russian psychologist, physiologist, and medical scientist.
The very fa ...
and pedologist
Vasily Dokuchaev
Vasily Vasilyevich Dokuchaev (russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Докуча́ев; 1 March 1846 – 8 November 1903) was a Russian geologist and geographer who is credited with laying the foundations of soil science. The U ...
. On 24 March 1896 (O.S.), on the campus of the university,
Alexander Popov publicly demonstrated transmission of
radio waves
Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with the longest wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum, typically with frequencies of 300 gigahertz (GHz) and below. At 300 GHz, the corresponding wavelength is 1 mm (short ...
for the first time in history.
As of 1 January 1900 (O.S.), there were 2,099 students enrolled in the Faculty of Law, 1,149 students in the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, 212 students in the Faculty of Oriental Languages and 171 students in the Faculty of History and Philology. In 1902, the first student
dining hall
A cafeteria, sometimes called a canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school ...
in Russia was opened in the university.
Since about 1897, regular strikes and student unrest shook the university and spread to other institutions of higher education across Russia. During the
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
of 1905, the charter of the Russian universities was amended once more; the autonomy of the universities was partially restored and the right to elect the rector was returned to the academic board for the first time since 1884. In 1905–06, the university was temporarily closed due to student unrest. Its autonomy was revoked again in 1911. In the same year, the university was once again temporarily closed.
In 1914, with the start of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the university was renamed Petrograd Imperial University after its namesake city. During the War, the university was the center of mobilization of Russian intellectual resources and scholarship for the victory. In 1915, a branch of the university was opened in
Perm
Perm or PERM may refer to:
Places
*Perm, Russia, a city in Russia
**Permsky District, the district
**Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005
**Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005
**Perm Governorate, an administrat ...
, which later became
Perm State University
Perm State University (now Perm State National Research University; russian: Пермский университет, Пермский государственный университет, , romanised: , ) or PSU, PSNRU (russian: ПГУ, , ro ...
.
1918–39
The Assembly of Petrograd Imperial University openly welcomed the
February Revolution
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
of 1917, which put an end to the Russian monarchy, and the university came to be known as Petrograd University. However, after the
October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
of 1917, the university's staff and administration were initially vocally opposed to the
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
takeover of power and reluctant to cooperate with the
Narkompros The People's Commissariat for Education (or Narkompros; russian: Народный комиссариат просвещения, Наркомпрос, directly translated as the "People's Commissariat for Enlightenment") was the Soviet agency charge ...
. Later in 1917–22, during the
Russian Civil War
, date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
, some of the staff suspected of counter-revolutionary sympathies suffered imprisonment (''e.g.'',
Lev Shcherba Lev Shcherba (commonly Scherba) (Russian language, Russian: Лев Влади́мирович Ще́рба, Belarusian language, Belarusian: Леў Уладзіміравіч Шчэрба) ( – December 26, 1944) was a Russian Empire and Soviet lin ...
in 1919), execution, or exile abroad on the so-called
Philosophers' ships
The philosophers' ships or philosopher's steamboats (russian: Философский пароход) were steamships that transported intellectuals expelled from Soviet Russia in 1922.
The main load was handled by two German ships, the ''Oberbür ...
in 1922 (''e.g.'',
Nikolai Lossky
Nikolay Onufriyevich Lossky. (; – 24 January 1965), also known as N. O. Lossky, was a Russian philosopher, representative of Russian idealism, intuitionist epistemology, personalism, libertarianism, ethics and axiology (value theory). He gave ...
). Furthermore, the entire staff suffered from hunger and extreme poverty during those years.
In 1918, the university was renamed 1st Petrograd State University, and in 1919 the Narkompros merged it with the 2nd PSU (former Psychoneurological Institute) and 3rd PSU (former
Bestuzhev Higher Courses for Women) into Petrograd State University. In 1919, the Faculty of Social Science was established by the Narkompros instead of the Faculty of History and Philology, Faculty of Oriental Languages and Faculty of Law.
Nicholas Marr
Nikolai Yakovlevich Marr (, ''Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr''; , ''Nikoloz Iak'obis dze Mari''; — 20 December 1934) was a Georgian-born historian and linguist who gained a reputation as a scholar of the Caucasus during the 1910s before embarking o ...
became the first Dean of the new faculty. Chemist
Alexey Favorsky
Alexey Yevgrafovich Favorsky (russian: Алексе́й Евгра́фович Фаво́рский; – 8 August 1945), was a Russian and Soviet chemist. Hero of Socialist Labour (1945).
Life
Favorsky studied chemistry at the imperial Saint Pet ...
became the Dean of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.
Rabfak
Rabfak (from russian: рабфак, a syllabic abbreviation of рабочий факультет, ''rabochiy fakultet'', "workers' faculty") was a type of educational institution in the Soviet UnionBerthold Unfried''"Ich bekenne": Katholische Beic ...
s and free university courses were opened on the basis of the university to provide mass education.
In the fall of 1920, as observed by freshman student
Alice Rosenbaum (Ayn Rand), enrollment was open and the majority of the students were anti-communist including, until removed, a few vocal opponents of the regime. Seeing they were educating "class enemies", a purge was conducted in 1922 based on the class background of the students, and all students, other than seniors, with a
bourgeois
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
background were expelled.
In 1924, the university was renamed Leningrad State University after its namesake city. In order to suppress intellectual opposition to Soviet power, a number of historians working in the university, including
Sergey Platonov
Sergey Fyodorovich Platonov (russian: Серге́й Фёдорович Плато́нов) (28 June O.S.">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="6 June Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 1860 – 10 January 1933) was a Russian histori ...
,
Yevgeny Tarle
Yevgeny Viktorovich Tarle (russian: Евгений Викторович Тарле) ( – 6 January 1955) was a Soviet historian and academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is known for his books about Napoleon's invasion of Russia an ...
, and
Boris Grekov
Boris Dmitrievich Grekov (; in Mirgorod, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire – 9 September 1953 in Moscow) was a Russian and Soviet historian noted for his comprehensive studies of Kievan Rus and the Golden Horde. He was a member of the Sovi ...
, were imprisoned in the so-called Academic Affair of 1929–30 on fabricated charges of participating in a counter-revolutionary conspiracy aimed at overthrowing the government. Some other members of the staff were repressed in 1937–38 during the
Great Purge
The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...
.
1940–99
During the 1941–44
Siege of Leningrad
The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...
in World War II, many students and staff died from starvation, in battles, or from repressions. The university evacuated to
Saratov
Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...
in 1942–44. A branch of the university was in
Yelabuga
Yelabuga (alternative spelling that reflects the Cyrillic spelling: Elabuga; russian: Елабуга; tt-Cyrl, Алабуга, ''Alabuğa'') is a town in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the right bank of the Kama River and east ...
during the war. In 1944, the Presidium of the
Supreme Council of the Soviet Union
The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...
awarded the university the
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...
. In 1948, the
Soviet Council of Ministers
The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ɛsɛsɛˈsɛr; sometimes abbreviated to ''Sovmin'' or referred to as the '' ...
named the university after
Andrei Zhdanov
Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov ( rus, Андре́й Алекса́ндрович Жда́нов, p=ɐnˈdrej ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐdanəf, links=yes; – 31 August 1948) was a Soviet politician and cultural ideologist. After World War ...
, a deceased Communist official. This decision was revoked in 1989 during
Perestroika
''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...
.
In 1949–50, several professors died in prison during the investigation of the
Leningrad Affair fabricated by the central Soviet leadership, and the Minister of Education of the
RSFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
, former rector
Alexander Voznesensky
Alexander Alexeyevich Voznesensky (russian: Александр Алексеевич Вознесенский) (March 5, 1898—October 28, 1950) was a Soviet statesman, economist and brother of Nikolai Voznesensky.
Biography
Born in ...
, was executed.
In 1966, the Council of Ministers decided to build a suburban campus in
Petrodvorets
Petergof (russian: Петерго́ф), known as Petrodvorets () from 1944 to 1997, is a municipal town in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland.
The town hosts ...
for most of the mathematics and natural science faculties. The relocation of the faculties was completed by the 1990s. In 1969, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union awarded the university the
Order of the Red Banner of Labour
The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...
. In 1991, the university was renamed back to Saint Petersburg State University after its namesake city. The university educated Russian presidents
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
and
Dimitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...
, both of whom studied law at the university.
2000-present
In early 2022, the university expelled 13 students who had protested against the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
.
In response to the Russian invasion, in March 2022 the
Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
The Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (German: Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg) is a higher education and applied research institution located in Hamburg, Germany. Formerly known as ''Fachhochschule Hamburg,'' the ''Hamburg ...
and
University of Bremen
The University of Bremen (German: ''Universität Bremen'') is a public university in Bremen, Germany, with approximately 23,500 people from 115 countries. It is one of 11 institutions which were successful in the category "Institutional Strategi ...
suspended their longstanding relationships with the university,
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
stopped running its Russian language study abroad program in the university, and
CEMS - The Global Alliance in Management Education
CEMS - The Global Alliance in Management Education or CEMS (formerly the Community of European Management Schools and International Companies) is a cooperation of leading business schools and universities with multinational companies and Non-gover ...
suspended its partnership with the Graduate School of Management in St Petersburg. In addition, the European
Coimbra Group
The Coimbra Group (CG) is an international association of 41 universities in Europe. It was established in 1985. It works for the benefit of its members by promoting "internationalization, academic collaboration, excellence in learning and resear ...
expelled the university, and the
European University Association
The European University Association (EUA) represents more than 800 institutions of higher education in 48 countries, providing them with a forum for cooperation and exchange of information on higher education and research policies. Members of th ...
suspended the school. The
Council on International Educational Exchange
The Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) is a non-profit organization promoting international education and exchange. It was founded in 1947 and is based in the United States. The organization is headquartered in Portland, Maine.
...
stopped its programs at the university, and relocated students to other non-Russian universities.
Organization
Governance
![Spb 06-2012 University Embankment 06](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Spb_06-2012_University_Embankment_06.jpg)
The university is a federal state institution of higher education managed by the
government of the Russian Federation
The Government of Russia exercises executive power in the Russia, Russian Federation. The members of the government are the Prime Minister of Russia, prime minister, the Deputy Chairman of the Government, deputy prime ministers, and the federa ...
. It has 24 faculties and institutes which are further subdivided into departments, and other main structural subdivisions.
The superior body of self-government of the university is its Assembly, which elects the rector and the Academic Board of the university for a five-year term. The Assembly consists of the members of the Academic Board of the university and the staff delegated by the general assemblies of the main structural subdivisions according to quotas set by the Academic Board of the university. The general administration of the university is vested in the Academic Board, which consists of the rector, who presides over it, as well as the president of the university, vice rectors and representatives of the main structural subdivisions.
Likewise, the general administration of a faculty is vested in its respective academic board elected by the faculty assembly for five years. The procedure of election and department quotas are decided by the faculty-level academic board itself. The dean, who leads the faculty and presides over its academic board, is elected for five years by the faculty academic board.
Academic year
The
academic year
An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study.
School holiday
School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sch ...
in St. Petersburg State University according to the Routine Regulations normally starts on 1 September. One lesson normally lasts an hour and a half (two academic hours). The academic year is divided into two semesters. The first semester (term) ends by late December, the second starts in mid-February and lasts until late May. Each term is followed by a series of preliminary tests (in the last week of December/May) and exams (in January/June).
Campuses
The university has two main campuses: on Vasilievsky Island in the historic city center and in Peterhof (formerly Petrodvorets), a southwestern suburb, which can be reached by railway from the city's
Baltiysky Rail Terminal
St. Petersburg-Baltiysky (russian: Балти́йский вокза́л) is a railway station in St. Petersburg, one of the busiest railway stations in Russia by volume of suburban traffic.
The station was modelled by architect Alexander Krak ...
. The main building of the university, Twelve Collegia, is on Vasilievsky Island and includes the Library, the Faculty of Biology and the Institute of Earth Sciences. The Faculty of Philology and the Faculty of Oriental Studies share the nearby 18th-century
Petrine Baroque
Petrine Baroque (Russian: Петровское барокко) is a style of 17th and 18th century Baroque architecture and decoration favoured by Peter the Great and employed to design buildings in the newly founded Russian capital, Saint Petersbu ...
building on
Universitetskaya Embankment
Universitetskaya Embankment (russian: Университетская набережная) is a 1.2 km long embankment on the right bank of the Bolshaya Neva, on Vasilievsky Island in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Starting at the Spit of Va ...
of the
Bolshaya Neva
The Great Neva or Bolshaya Neva () is the largest armlet of the river Neva. It starts near the Spit of Vasilievsky Island (easternmost tip of the island).
The Great Neva is long; the width is from and the depth up to . Its tributaries are Font ...
, designed by
Domenico Trezzini
Domenico Trezzini (Russian Андрей Якимович Трезин, ''Andrey Yakimovich Trezin''; c. 1670 – 1734) was a Swiss architect who elaborated the Petrine Baroque style of Russian architecture.
Domenico was born in Astano, L ...
and originally built as the Palace of
Peter II of Russia
Peter II Alexeyevich (russian: Пётр II, Пётр Алексеевич, ''Pyotr Vtoroy'', ''Pyotr Alekseyevich'', – ) reigned as Emperor of Russia from 1727 until his untimely death at the age of 14. He was the only son of Tsarevich Alexei ...
. The New
Gostiny Dvor
Gostinyi dvor ( rus, гостиный двор, p=ɡɐˈsʲtʲinɨj ˈdvor) is a historic Russian term for an indoor market or shopping centre. It is translated from Russian either as "guest court" or "merchant yard", although both translations a ...
designed by
Giacomo Quarenghi
Giacomo Quarenghi (; rus, Джа́комо Кваре́нги, Džákomo Kvaréngi, ˈdʐakəmə kvɐˈrʲenʲɡʲɪ; 20 or 21 September 1744) was an Italian architect who was the foremost and most prolific practitioner of neoclassical architectu ...
and built in the 19th century in that part of the island is occupied by the Institute of History, Institute of Philosophy. The Faculty of Psychology is in front of it on Admiral Makarov Embankment of the
Malaya Neva
The Little Neva or Malaya Neva (russian: Ма́лая Нева́) is the second largest distributary of the river Neva. The Neva splits into Great Neva (the southern armlet) and Little Neva (the northern armlet) near the Spit of Vasilievsky I ...
. The Graduate School of Management, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry and Medical Technologies, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Military Studies are on Vasilievsky Island, but farther to the west. Four other social science faculties are east of the city center on the southern bank of the
Neva
The Neva (russian: Нева́, ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it ...
: the Faculty of Economics is not far from the
Chernyshevskaya
Chernyshevskaya (russian: Черныше́вская) is a station on the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line of Saint Petersburg Metro, opened on September 1, 1958. It is a deep underground pylon station at depth with a short central hall. The station is ...
metro station
A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase Train ticket, tickets, board trains, and Emergency eva ...
, while the Faculty of Sociology, Faculty of Political Science and the School of International Relations occupy historical buildings of
Smolny Convent
Smolny Convent or Smolny Convent of the Resurrection (''Voskresensky'', Russian: Воскресенский новодевичий Смольный монастырь), located on Ploschad Rastrelli (Rastrelli Square), on the left bank of the Riv ...
.
The new suburban campus consists of the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Control Processes, Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics, and Faculty of Physics, which are in modern buildings in Peterhof. Nearby the Peterhof campus there is a park area called Sergievka. In the Sergievka park there are buildings of the Faculty of Biology.
Faculties and Institutes
SPbSU is made up of 24 specialized faculties, which are:
*
Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Control Processes*rus*eng
*
Faculty of Biology*rus
*
Institute of Chemistry The Royal Institute of Chemistry was a British scientific organisation. Founded in 1877 as the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland (ICGBI), its role was to focus on qualifications and the professional status of chemists, and its aim ...
* Faculty of
Dentistry
Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions o ...
and Medical Technology
*rus
*
Faculty of Economics
A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...
*rus
*
Institute of Earth Sciences
An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes can ...
*rus
*
Institute of History*rus
*
School of International Relations*rus
*
Faculty of Law
A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...
* Faculty of
Liberal Arts
Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...
and Sciences
*rus*eng
*
Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics*rus*eng
* Faculty of
Medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
*rus
*
Faculty of Oriental Studies
The Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (formerly the Faculty of Oriental Studies), is a subdivision of the University of Oxford.
The faculty is engaged in a broad range of research and teaching on modern and historical Asian and Middl ...
*rus*eng
* Faculty of
Arts
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...
*rus*eng
*
Faculty of Philology*rus*eng
*
Institute of Philosophy*rus*eng
*
Faculty of Physics
Faculty may refer to:
* Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage)
* Faculty (division), a division within a university (usage outside of the United States)
* Faculty (instrument), an instrument or warra ...
*rus
* Faculty of
Political Science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
(
*rus)
*rus*eng
*
Faculty of Psychology*rus*eng
*
Faculty of Sociology*rus
*
Graduate School of Management
* Military Faculty
*rus
*
School of Journalism and Mass Communications*rus*eng
** Faculty of Applied Communications
** Faculty of Journalism
There is also a Department of Physical Culture and Sports.
*rus
Notable alumni and faculty
![Landau](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Landau.jpg)
Russian revolutionary and founder of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
,
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
, was an alumnus. Russian Prime Ministers
Pyotr Stolypin
Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin ( rus, Пётр Арка́дьевич Столы́пин, p=pʲɵtr ɐrˈkadʲjɪvʲɪtɕ stɐˈlɨpʲɪn; – ) was a Russian politician and statesman. He served as the third prime minister and the interior minist ...
and
Dimitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...
, the incumbent president and former prime minister of Russia
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, and the past president of Lithuania
Dalia Grybauskaitė
Dalia Grybauskaitė (; born 1 March 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who served as the eighth President of Lithuania from 2009 until 2019. She is the first woman to hold the position and in 2014 she became the first President of Lithuania to be ...
are alumni.
Eight graduates of the university are
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
recipients:
Ivan Pavlov
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov ( rus, Ива́н Петро́вич Па́влов, , p=ɪˈvan pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈpavləf, a=Ru-Ivan_Petrovich_Pavlov.ogg; 27 February 1936), was a Russian and Soviet experimental neurologist, psychologist and physiol ...
(Physiology and Medicine, 1904),
Ilya Mechnikov
Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, or Ilija (russian: Илья́, Il'ja, , or russian: Илия́, Ilija, ; uk, Ілля́, Illia, ; be, Ілья́, Iĺja ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/ Jah. ...
(Physiology and Medicine, 1908),
Nikolay Semyonov
Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov (or Semënov), (russian: Никола́й Никола́евич Семёнов; – 25 September 1986) (often referred to in English as Semenoff, Semenov, Semionov, or Semyonova) was a Soviet physicist and chem ...
(Chemistry, 1956),
Lev Landau
Lev Davidovich Landau (russian: Лев Дави́дович Ланда́у; 22 January 1908 – 1 April 1968) was a Soviet- Azerbaijani physicist of Jewish descent who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics.
His a ...
(Physics, 1962),
Aleksandr Prokhorov (Physics, 1964),
Wassily Leontief
Wassily Wassilyevich Leontief (russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Лео́нтьев; August 5, 1905 – February 5, 1999), was a Soviet-American economist known for his research on input–output analysis and how changes in one ec ...
(Economics, 1973),
Leonid Kantorovich
Leonid Vitalyevich Kantorovich ( rus, Леони́д Вита́льевич Канторо́вич, , p=lʲɪɐˈnʲit vʲɪˈtalʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kəntɐˈrovʲɪtɕ, a=Ru-Leonid_Vitaliyevich_Kantorovich.ogg; 19 January 19127 April 1986) was a Soviet ...
(Economics, 1975), and
Joseph Brodsky
Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (; russian: link=no, Иосиф Александрович Бродский ; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist.
Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), USSR in 1940, ...
(Literature, 1987). Graduates
Grigori Perelman
Grigori Yakovlevich Perelman ( rus, links=no, Григорий Яковлевич Перельман, p=ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲɪj ˈjakəvlʲɪvʲɪtɕ pʲɪrʲɪlʲˈman, a=Ru-Grigori Yakovlevich Perelman.oga; born 13 June 1966) is a Russian mathemati ...
and
Stanislav Smirnov
Stanislav Konstantinovich Smirnov (russian: Станисла́в Константи́нович Cмирно́в; born 3 September 1970) is a Russian mathematician currently working at the University of Geneva. He was awarded the Fields Medal in ...
were awarded the
Fields Medal
The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place every four years. The name of the award ho ...
.
Among the scholars affiliated with St-Petersburg State University have been
Leonard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...
,
Mikhail Lomonosov
Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (; russian: Михаил (Михайло) Васильевич Ломоносов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ , a=Ru-Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov.ogg; – ) was a Russian Empire, Russian polymath, s ...
, chemist
Dmitri Mendeleev
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (sometimes transliterated as Mendeleyev or Mendeleef) ( ; russian: links=no, Дмитрий Иванович Менделеев, tr. , ; 8 February Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._27_January.html" ;"title="O ...
, and mathematicians
Mikhail Ostrogradsky
Mikhail Vasilyevich Ostrogradsky (transcribed also ''Ostrogradskiy'', Ostrogradskiĭ) (russian: Михаи́л Васи́льевич Острогра́дский, ua, Миха́йло Васи́льович Острогра́дський; 24 Sep ...
,
Abram Besicovitch
Abram Samoilovitch Besicovitch (or Besikovitch) (russian: link=no, Абра́м Само́йлович Безико́вич; 23 January 1891 – 2 November 1970) was a Russian mathematician, who worked mainly in England. He was born in Berdyansk ...
,
Lev M. Bregman
Lev M. Bregman (1941 - 2023) is a Soviet and Israeli mathematician, most known for the Bregman divergence named after him.
Bregman received his M. Sc. in mathematics in 1963 at Leningrad University and his Ph.D. in mathematics in 1966 at the same ...
,
Pafnuty Chebyshev
Pafnuty Lvovich Chebyshev ( rus, Пафну́тий Льво́вич Чебышёв, p=pɐfˈnutʲɪj ˈlʲvovʲɪtɕ tɕɪbɨˈʂof) ( – ) was a Russian mathematician and considered to be the founding father of Russian mathematics.
Chebyshe ...
,
Yakov Eliashberg
Yakov Matveevich Eliashberg (also Yasha Eliashberg; russian: link=no, Яков Матвеевич Элиашберг; born 11 December 1946) is an American mathematician who was born in Leningrad, USSR.
Education and career
Eliashberg receiv ...
,
Leonid Frankfurt
Leonid Lev Frankfurt (russian: Леонид Львович Франкфурт; born 1938) is a Russian-Israeli physicist from Tel Aviv University. He was awarded the status of Fellow in the American Physical Society, after they were nominated by ...
,
Israel Gohberg
Israel Gohberg ( he, ישראל גוכברג; russian: Изра́иль Цу́дикович Го́хберг; 23 August 1928 – 12 October 2009) was a Bessarabian-born Soviet and Israeli mathematician, most known for his work in operator theory a ...
,
Yuri Linnik
Yuri Vladimirovich Linnik (russian: Ю́рий Влади́мирович Ли́нник; January 8, 1915 – June 30, 1972) was a Soviet mathematician active in number theory, probability theory and mathematical statistics.
Linnik was born in B ...
,
Aleksandr Lyapunov
Aleksandr Mikhailovich Lyapunov (russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Ляпуно́в, ; – 3 November 1918) was a Russian mathematician, mechanician and physicist. His surname is variously romanized as Ljapunov, Liapunov, Liapo ...
,
Andrey Markov
Andrey Andreyevich Markov, first name also spelled "Andrei", in older works also spelled Markoff) (14 June 1856 – 20 July 1922) was a Russian mathematician best known for his work on stochastic processes. A primary subject of his research lat ...
,
Solomon Mikhlin
Solomon Grigor'evich Mikhlin (russian: link=no, Соломо́н Григо́рьевич Ми́хлин, real name Zalman Girshevich Mikhlin) (the family name is also transliterated as Mihlin or Michlin) (23 April 1908 – 29 August 1990) was a ...
,
Vladimir Rokhlin,
Vladimir Smirnov,
Sergei Sobolev
Prof Sergei Lvovich Sobolev (russian: Серге́й Льво́вич Со́болев) H FRSE (6 October 1908 – 3 January 1989) was a Soviet mathematician working in mathematical analysis and partial differential equations.
Sobolev introduc ...
,
Vladimir Steklov,
Victor Zalgaller
Victor (Viktor) Abramovich Zalgaller ( he, ויקטור אבּרמוביץ' זלגלר; russian: Виктор Абрамович Залгаллер; 25 December 1920 – 2 October 2020) was a Russian-Israeli mathematician in the fields of ge ...
, and
Aleksandr Aleksandrov. In addition, physicists
Boris Rosing
Boris Lvovich Rosing (russian: Борис Львович Розинг; 23 April 1869 (old style, 5 May 1869, new style). – 20 April 1933) was a Russian scientist and inventor in the field of television.
Biography
Boris Rosing was born in Sa ...
,
Vladimir Fock
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fock (or Fok; russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Фок) (December 22, 1898 – December 27, 1974) was a Soviet Union, Soviet physicist, who did foundational work on quantum mechanics and quantum ...
,
Leonid Frankfurt
Leonid Lev Frankfurt (russian: Леонид Львович Франкфурт; born 1938) is a Russian-Israeli physicist from Tel Aviv University. He was awarded the status of Fellow in the American Physical Society, after they were nominated by ...
,
Lev Pavlovich Rapoport
Lev Pavlovich Rapoport (russian: Лев Павлович Рапопорт, link=no, January 13, 1920 – September 15, 2000) was well known for his pioneering works in nuclear and atomic theoretical physics.
Early work
His first works in this fiel ...
,
Elena Besley
Elena Besley (née Bichoutskaia) is a British scientist who is Professor of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry at the University of Nottingham. She holds a Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship and is Associate Editor of Nano Letters.
Early l ...
, astrophysicist
Viktor Ambartsumian
Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian (russian: Виктор Амазаспович Амбарцумян; hy, Վիկտոր Համազասպի Համբարձումյան, ''Viktor Hamazaspi Hambardzumyan''; 12 August 1996) was a Soviet Armenian astr ...
, botanists
Vladimir Komarov
Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov ( rus, Влади́мир Миха́йлович Комаро́в, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ kəmɐˈrof; 16 March 1927 – 24 April 1967) was a Soviet test pilot, aerospace engineer, and cosmonaut. ...
and
Vladimir Sukachev
Vladimir Nikolayevich Sukachev (also spelled Vladimir Nikolajevich Sukaczev) (russian: Влади́мир Никола́евич Сукачёв; born 7 June 1880 in Aleksandrovka, Russian Empire – died 9 February 1967 in Moscow) was a Russian ...
, physiologists
Ivan Sechenov
Doctor Ivan Mikhaylovich Sechenov (russian: Ива́н Миха́йлович Се́ченов; , Tyoply Stan (now Sechenovo) near Simbirsk, Russia – , Moscow), was a Russian psychologist, physiologist, and medical scientist.
The very fa ...
,
Kliment Timiryazev
Kliment Arkadievich Timiryazev (russian: Климент Аркадьевич Тимирязев, surname sometimes transliterated as Timiriazev; – 28 April 1920) was a Russian Imperial botanist and physiologist and a major proponent of the ...
, philosopher and sociologist
Pitirim Sorokin
Pitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin (; russian: Питири́м Алекса́ндрович Соро́кин; – 10 February 1968) was a Russian American sociologist and political activist, who contributed to the social cycle theory.
Background
...
, historians
Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan
Rahul Sankrityayan (born Kedarnath Pandey; 9 April 1893 – 14 April 1963) was an Indian writer and a polyglot who wrote in Hindi. He played a pivotal role in giving travelogue a 'literary form'. He was one of the most widely travelled scholars ...
,
Yevgeny Tarle
Yevgeny Viktorovich Tarle (russian: Евгений Викторович Тарле) ( – 6 January 1955) was a Soviet historian and academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is known for his books about Napoleon's invasion of Russia an ...
,
Gregory Areshian
Gregory Areshian (13 May 1949 – 2 August 2020) was an Armenian-American archeologist and historian who was a professor at American University of Armenia. He was the co-director of the international team of archeologists who, led by Boris Gaspar ...
, and
Boris Grekov
Boris Dmitrievich Grekov (; in Mirgorod, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire – 9 September 1953 in Moscow) was a Russian and Soviet historian noted for his comprehensive studies of Kievan Rus and the Golden Horde. He was a member of the Sovi ...
, philologists
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...
,
Ilia Chavchavadze
Prince Ilia Chavchavadze ( ka, ილია ჭავჭავაძე; 8 November 1837 – 12 September 1907) was a Georgian public figure, journalist, publisher, writer and poet who spearheaded the revival of Georgian nationalism during the ...
,
Alexander Blok
Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...
,
Lev Shcherba Lev Shcherba (commonly Scherba) (Russian language, Russian: Лев Влади́мирович Ще́рба, Belarusian language, Belarusian: Леў Уладзіміравіч Шчэрба) ( – December 26, 1944) was a Russian Empire and Soviet lin ...
,
Vladimir Propp
Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp (russian: Владимир Яковлевич Пропп; – 22 August 1970) was a Soviet folklorist and scholar who analysed the basic structural elements of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irredu ...
,
Viktor Zhirmunsky
The name Victor or Viktor may refer to:
* Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname
Arts and entertainment
Film
* ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film
* ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
, orientalists
Vasily Struve,
Joseph Orbeli
Joseph Orbeli ( hy, Հովսեփ Աբգարի Օրբելի, Hovsep Abgari Orbeli; russian: Иосиф Абгарович Орбели, Iosif Abgarovich Orbeli; 20 March ( O.S. 8 March) 1887 – 2 February 1961) was a Soviet-Armenian orientalist, p ...
,
Boris Piotrovsky
Boris Borisovich Piotrovsky (russian: Бори́с Бори́сович Пиотро́вский; also written Piotrovskii; – October 15, 1990) was a Soviet Russian academician, historian- orientalist and archaeologist who studied the ancient ci ...
, artists
Nicholas Roerich
Nicholas Roerich (; October 9, 1874 – December 13, 1947), also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (russian: link=no, Никола́й Константи́нович Ре́рих), was a Russian painter, writer, archaeologist, theosophi ...
, and
Zare Yusupova
Zare Alievna Yusupova (Russian: Заре Алиевна Юсупова; born 1934) is a Russian philologist specializing in the Kurdish language.
Yusupova holds a Doctor of Philological Sciences degree and works as a professor at the Saint Peter ...
. Composer
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
attended the university from 1901 to 1905.
The American novelist
Ayn Rand
Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...
attended the university from 1920 to 1924, graduating with honors in history. Ukrainian nationalist and publicist
Dmytro Dontsov
Dmytro Ivanovych Dontsov ( ua, Дмитро Іванович Донцов) (August 29, 1883 – March 30, 1973) was a Ukrainian nationalist writer, publisher, journalist and political thinker whose radical ideas, known as integral nationalism, we ...
studied law at the university for some time after 1900.
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns.
By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...
was the fourth World Chess Champion,
Gennadiy Shatkov was an Olympic champion in boxing, and
Eduard Vinokurov
Eduard Teodorovich Vinokurov (russian: Эдуард Теодорович Винокуров; October 30, 1942 – February 10, 2010) was a Soviet Union, Soviet Russians, Russian Olympic champion and world champion sabre fencing, fencer.
Early an ...
was an Olympic and world champion sabre fencer. Joseph Shor, a student of the School of Mathematics and Mechanics, is known as the main protege of
Ostap Bender
Ostap Bender (russian: Остап Бендер; in ''The Twelve Chairs'' he called himself Ostap-Suleyman-Berta-Maria-Bender-Bey, in ''The Little Golden Calf'' he called himself Bender-Zadunaysky, in later novels he was also called Ostap Ibragimo ...
.
Igor Artimovich is known for creating
Festi.
Yakov Rekhter
Yakov Rekhter is a well-known network protocol designer and software programmer. He was heavily involved in internet protocol development, and its predecessors, from their early stages.
Dr. Rekhter was one of the leading architects and a major ...
is known for creating
BGP
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is a standardized exterior gateway protocol designed to exchange routing and reachability information among autonomous system (Internet), autonomous systems (AS) on the Internet. BGP is classified as a path-vector ...
.
Pavel Durov
Pavel Valeryevich Durov (russian: Павел Валерьевич Дуров; born 10 October 1984) is a Russian-born French-Emirati entrepreneur who is known for being the founder of the social networking site VK (service), VK and Telegram (so ...
graduated the department of philology while his brother
Nikolai Durov
Nikolai Valeryevich Durov (russian: Никола́й Вале́рьевич Ду́ров; born 21 November 1980) is a Russian programmer and mathematician. He is the elder brother of Pavel Durov, with whom he founded the social networking site ...
received his PhD from the department of mathematics. Kyrgyz sociologist
Rakhat Achylova
Rakhat Achylova in Kyrgyz: Рахат Ачылова (30 May 1941 - 5 March 2015) was a sociologist from Kyrgyzstan, who studied the roles of women and the family, as well as Islam in her country. She was a member of the Supreme Council from 199 ...
received her DPhil in 1988.
Rectors
![Боргман И](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/%D0%91%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%98.%D0%98..jpg)
:1819–1821
Mikhail Balugyansky
:1821–1825
Yevdokim Zyablovskiy
Yevdokim Filippovich Zyablovskiy (russian: Евдоким Филиппович Зябловский) (July 31, 1763 – March 30, 1846) was a Russian geographer and academic.
In 1797 Zyablovskiy was appointed as professor of history and geogra ...
:1825–1836
Antoine Jeudy Dugour
Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin.
The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana, ...
:1836–1840
Ivan Shulgin
:1840–1861
Pyotr Pletnyov
Pyotr Alexandrovich Pletnyov (russian: Пётр Александрович Плетнёв; , Tebleshi, Tver Governorate — ) was a minor Russian poet and literary critic, who rose to become the dean of the Saint Petersburg University (1840 ...
:1861–1863
Alexander Voskresensky
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
:1863–1865
Heinrich Lenz
Heinrich Friedrich Emil Lenz (; ; also Emil Khristianovich Lenz, russian: Эмилий Христианович Ленц; 12 February 1804 – 10 February 1865), usually cited as Emil Lenz or Heinrich Lenz in some countries, was a Russian physici ...
:1865–1867 Alexander Voskresensky
:1867–1873
Karl Fedorovich Kessler
Karl Fedorovich Kessler (19 November 1815 – 3 March 1881) was a German-Russian zoologist and author of zoological taxa signed ''Kessler'', who was mostly active in Kyiv, Ukraine. He conducted most of his studies of birds in Ukrainian region ...
:1873–1876
Pyotr Redkin
:1876–1883
Andrei Beketov
:1883 (1884)–1887
Ivan Andreevsky
Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...
:1887–1890
Mikhail Vladislavlev
:1890–1897
Pyotr Nikitin
:1897–1899 V. Sergeevich
:1899–1903
Adolf Holmsten
Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...
:1903–1905 A. Zhdanov
:1905–1910
Ivan Borgman
Ivan Ivanovich Borgman (24 February 1849- 17 May 1914) was a Russian physicist who first demonstrated in 1897 that X-rays and radioactive materials induced thermoluminescence.
Biography
Borgman was born to a Russified Finnish-born father and a R ...
:1910–1911 David Grimm
:1911–1918
Erwin Grimm Erwin may refer to:
People Given name
* Erwin Chargaff (1905–2002), Austrian biochemist
* Erwin Dold (1919–2012), German concentration camp commandant in World War 2
* Erwin Hauer (1926–2017), Austrian-born American sculptor
* Egon Erwin Kisc ...
:1918–1919
Alexander Ivanov
:1919
Sergei Zhebelev
Sergei Aleksandrovich Zhebelev (22 September 1867 – 28 December 1941) was a Russian historian and archaeologist who was recognised as an authority on ancient Greek history.
Zhebelev graduated from Saint Petersburg University in 1890 and was ap ...
:1919–1922
Vladimir Shimkevich
Vladimir may refer to:
Names
* Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name
* Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name
* Volodymyr for the Ukra ...
:1922–1926
Nikolay Derzhavin
:1926–1927 V. Tomashevsky
:1927–1930
Mikhail Serebryakov
:1930–1932 Yury Nikich (director)
:1932–1933 V. Seryozhnikov (director)
:1933–1938 Mikhail Lazurkin (director)
:1938–1939 Konstantin Lukashev (director)
:1939 A. Marchenko (director)
:1939–1941 P. Zolotukhin (director)
:1941–1948
Alexander Voznesensky
Alexander Alexeyevich Voznesensky (russian: Александр Алексеевич Вознесенский) (March 5, 1898—October 28, 1950) was a Soviet statesman, economist and brother of Nikolai Voznesensky.
Biography
Born in ...
:1948–1950
Nikita Domnin
Nikita may refer to:
* Nikita (given name)
* Nikita, Crimea, a town in Crimea
* Nikita the Tanner, a character in East Slavic folklore
Film and television
*''Little Nikita'', a 1988 film
* ''La Femme Nikita'' (film), also known as ''Nikita'', a 19 ...
:1950–1952
Alexey Ilyushin
Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Ale ...
:1952–1964
Aleksandr Aleksandrov
:1964–1970
Kirill Y. Kondratyev
Kirill Yakovlevich Kondratyev (; 14 June 1920 – 1 May 2006) was a Soviet and Russian atmospheric physicist.
Career
Kondratyev was born in Rybinsk. He went to school in Leningrad and in 1938 entered the University of Leningrad to study physi ...
:1970–1975
Gleb Makarov Gleb (Russian language, Russian and be, Глеб) or Hlib ( uk, Гліб) is a Slavic male given name derived from the Old Norse name ''Guðleifr'', which means "heir of god." According to another version, the name Gleb comes from the name Olaf. It ...
:1975–1986
Valentin Aleskovsky
Valentin Borisovich Aleskovsky (russian: Валенти́н Бори́сович Алеско́вский; 3 June 1912 - 29 January 2006) was a Soviet and Russian scientist and administrator known for his pioneering research on surface reactions ...
:1986–1993
Stanislav Merkuriev Stanislav and variants may refer to:
People
*Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.)
Places
* Stanislav (Village), Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine
* Sta ...
:1993(1994)–2008
Lyudmila Verbitskaya
Lyudmila Verbitskaya (née, Lyudmila Bubnova; 17 October 1936 – 24 November 2019) was a Russian linguist and teacher. She served as president of Saint Petersburg State University.
Career
Lyudmila Alekseevna Verbitskaya was born in Leningrad o ...
:since 2008
Nikolai Kropachev
Nikolai or Nikolay is an East Slavic variant of the masculine name Nicholas. It may refer to:
People Royalty
* Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855), or Nikolay I, Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855
* Nicholas II of Russia (1868–1918), or Niko ...
See also
*
Education in Russia
In Russia, the state provides most education services regulating education through the Ministry of Education and Science. Regional authorities regulate education within their jurisdictions within the prevailing framework of federal laws. Russia ...
*
List of universities in Russia
The following is a list of university, universities and other higher educational institutions in Russia, based primarily on the ''National Information Centre on Academic Recognition and Mobility'' webpage of the Ministry of Education and Science ...
*
Open access in Russia
In January 2008, Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian academics issued the "Belgorod Declaration" in support of open access to scientific and cultural knowledge. Russian supporters of the international "Open Access 2020" campaign, launched in 2016, ...
*
Smolny College
The Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Smolny College) of Saint Petersburg State University (russian: Факультет свободных искусств и наук СПбГУ) is the first Department in Russia (Saint Petersburg) to be found ...
*
List of early modern universities in Europe
The list of early modern universities in Europe comprises all universities that existed in the early modern age (1501–1800) in Europe. It also includes short-lived foundations and educational institutions whose university status is a matter o ...
References
Bibliography
* - The history of the university, with a particular focus on the Law Faculty, from the 19th century to the perestroika period
External links
Saint Petersburg State University homepageHistory of St Petersburg University
{{Authority control
1724 establishments in the Russian Empire
1819 establishments in the Russian Empire
Educational institutions established in 1819
Universities and colleges in the Soviet Union