The Saint Petersburg Military Engineering-Technical University (Nikolaevsky) (, VITU), previously known as the Saint Petersburg Nikolaevsky Engineering Academy, was established in 1810 under Alexander I. The university is situated in the former barracks of the Cavalier-Guard Regiment where the university was founded.

Description

Military Engineering-

Technical University An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

is a higher military educational institution preparing officers of

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

and building specialties for all branches of troops and navy. It is located in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

where the university was founded, near Engineers Castle, Summer Garden,

Suvorov Museum Suvorov Memorial Museum (Russian: Музей Суворова) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is a military museum dedicated to the memory of Generalissimo Alexander Suvorov (1729–1800). It was founded in 1900 to commemorate the century of Suvoro ...

, Tauride Palace, and

Smolny Convent Smolny Convent or Smolny Convent of the Resurrection (''Voskresensky'', Russian language, Russian: Воскресенский новодевичий Смольный монастырь), located on Ploschad Rastrelli (Rastrelli Square), on the le ...

. Military Engineering-Technical University has six faculties preparing specialists in the following branches: * Military construction, * Military energy resource engineering, *

Naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

construction, * Sanitary engineering, *

Mechanization Mechanization (or mechanisation) is the process of changing from working largely or exclusively by hand or with animals to doing that work with machinery. In an early engineering text, a machine is defined as follows: In every fields, mechan ...

of construction, * Special for civil. The university trains experts in the field of construction of buildings and special structures, engineering and technical systems and power industry. It has an experimental base for testing various thermal-mechanical and power equipment, structures and construction materials, and carries out research and development activities. It provides military university trained officers for all the Engineering Troops of Russia, a counterpart of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

History

This is one of Saint Petersburg's eldest Higher Military engineering schools, its history (as Higher learning institution) beginning in 1810. tephen Timoshenko - Engineering Education in Russia, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1959/ref> The Saint Petersburg Military Engineering-Technical University was founded as the Saint Petersburg military engineering School in 1810 on the base of the military school of engineering conductors (engineering of

non-commissioned officers A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

), after addition of officers classes and application of five-year term of teaching. In 1819 was renamed as the Main military engineering School. How Stephen Timoshenko wrote in a book "Engineering Education in Russia" the system of Higher learning institution of five-year Education of Main military engineering school was used later on the example of Institute of railway Engineers by all Russia and develops until now. This engineering school was alma mater of graduate for

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

. In 1855, officers classes of the Nikolaevsky Engineering School was reformed as the Nikolaevsky Engineering Academy. After 1917, numerous transformations of Nikolaevsky Engineering Academy and Engineering school were undertaken (but Higher learning institution survived). It was renamed as the Military-Engineering Academy, and then as Military-Technical Academy. But in 1932 followed the unsuccessful attempt of moving the Engineering Faculty to Moscow; it was completed later as the Sea Faculty returned to

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in 1939 (As a result, from the base Saint Petersburg Engineering Higher learning institution was separated a new Moscow military Engineering-administrative academy). Only Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov could counteract

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

`s policy against the Nikolaevsky Engineering Academy and school in 1939. He ordered that the university be revived, and that the Marine Engineering faculty be returned from Moscow. The attempts at bureaucratic movings (or Stalin's unfavorable attitude, 1932–1939) of the Saint Petersburg High School of Military Engineers can be examined in the historical context of the "Military Case" and

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

, on the eve of war against

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

. Also, Stalin's dislike of Fyodor Dostoyevsky was the reason of the unfavorable attitude against a university (because Stalin did not understand Dostoyevsky) . There were destructive consequences of some degradation for the pedagogical and scientific forces of Saint Petersburg High School of Military Engineers, but it was successfully corrected only due to the donor help of Petersburg Polytechnical Institute. Nikolaevsky Engineering Academy was formally and legally reborn in 1939 as the Higher Naval Engineering Construction School on the base of the Leningrad Industrial Construction Engineers Institute (separate part of Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University), and enlarged with the Sea Engineering Faculty of the Moscow Military Academy. Higher Naval Engineering Construction School was renamed the Higher Naval Engineering Technical School.

Leonid Kantorovich Leonid Vitalyevich Kantorovich (, ; 19 January 19127 April 1986) was a Soviet mathematician and economist, known for his theory and development of techniques for the optimal allocation of resources. He is regarded as the founder of linear programm ...

became the professor of Military Engineering-Technical University, previously known as the Nikolaevsky Engineering Academy, when it was revived on the site of part of the Polytechnical Institute. Also, the academician Boris Galerkin took a general's uniform in 1939, as the head of VITU's structural mechanics department became a lieutenant general. In September 1960, VITU university was called the Order of the Red Banner Higher Military Engineering School and became part of the construction troops. In 1974, the university was named after A.N. Komarovsky. In 1993, the university was reformed as the Military Engineering-Technical Institute, which received its present-day name in 1997, after as did merger the Pushkin Higher Military Engineering Construction School.

The Second World War

Military Engineering-Technical University directly took part in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The graduating students of the university fought heroically at all fronts of that war. They showed spiritual force and quality of engineering competence. The forts and numerous fortifications buildings was established by the graduating students of university, all of it played a vital part in defending (for example Brest Fortress). So unique Krasnaya Gorka fort was constructed by the graduating students of VITU at the beginning of the 20th century with the installation of 12-inch guns in concrete casemates. The system of forts played a key part in the

Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad was a Siege, military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 t ...

. The VITU's graduating students by the commanders of Krasnaya Gorka fort did to finally stopped the offensive of fascists already in 1941. During the Siege of Leningrad, Boris Galerkin was the head of the city engineering defence department experts group. Also, he joined the military engineering commission of the Academy of Sciences. Hard non-stop work was undermining his health. Not long after the Victory, in , Galerkin died.

was the professor of the VITU of the Navy, and there he was in charge of safety on the

Road of Life The Road of Life () was the set of ice road transport routes across Lake Ladoga to Leningrad during the Second World War. They were the only Soviet winter surface routes into the city while it was besieged by the German Army Group North und ...

; for his feat and courage he was awarded the

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War () is a Soviet Union, Soviet military Order (decoration), decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to Partisan (military), partisans for heroic deeds in the Easte ...

.Dochenko V. D., Navy. War. Victory. St. Petersburg, Shipbuilding. 1995

Traditions of Saint Petersburg High School of Military Engineers

Military Engineering Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

-Technical University prolongs, saves and develops the scientific and pedagogical traditions of Saint Petersburg High (higher learning institution) School of Military Engineers, the Nikolaevsky Engineering Academy and Nikolaevsky Engineering School, in the place of its own historical motherland.

Alumni and faculty

In total, the University prepared more than 45,000 military engineers. Among its alumni and faculty are: * Leonid Artamonov, a Russian general, geographer and traveler, military adviser of

Menelik II Menelik II ( ; horse name Aba Dagnew (Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 August 1844 – 12 December 1913), baptised as Sahle Maryam (ሣህለ ማርያም ''sahlä maryam'') was king of Shewa from 1866 to 1889 and Emperor of Et ...

, as one of Russian officers of volunteers was attached to the forces of Ras Tessema (wrote: «Through Ethiopia to the White Nile») * Alexander Vegener (Russian: Вегенер, Александр Николаевич), a Russian military pilot, engineer, aircraft designer, chief of the main air field, first chief of Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy * Konstantin Velichko (Russian: Величко, Константин Иванович), — a Russian/Soviet general military engineer, professor of fortification and author of numerous fortifications projects, for example the Red hill fort * Boris Galerkin, a Russian/Soviet

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

and engineer * Dmitry Grigorovich, a Russian writer *

, a Russian writer and essayist * Alexander Dutov, a lieutenant general and one of the leaders of the

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

counterrevolution A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution has occurred, in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "c ...

* Dmitry Karbyshev, a Red Army general and

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

(posthumously) who was taken prisoner during

, tortured by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

, and died on , 1945, in the

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

at Mauthausen * Leonid Kapitsa (Russian: Капица, Леонид Петрович), was father for nobel laureate

Pyotr Kapitsa Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa or Peter Kapitza (, ; – 8 April 1984) was a leading Soviet physicist and Nobel laureate, whose research focused on low-temperature physics. Biography Kapitsa was born in Kronstadt, Russian Empire, to the Bessar ...

, a Russian general military engineer, oversaw

Kronstadt Kronstadt (, ) is a Russian administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg, near the head ...

's forts construction * Konstantin von Kaufman, the first

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Russian Turkestan Russian Turkestan () was a colony of the Russian Empire, located in the western portion of the Central Asian region of Turkestan. Administered as a Krai or Governor-Generalship, it comprised the oasis region to the south of the Kazakh Steppe, b ...

* Amanullah Jahanbani, an Iranian senior general and senator. *

, a winner of the

Nobel Prize in Economics The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (), commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics(), is an award in the field of economic sciences adminis ...

, a Russian

and

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, known for his theory and development of techniques for the optimal allocation of resources * Roman Kondratenko, a Russian general famous for his steadfast defense of Port Arthur (now Lüshunkou) during the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

* Vladimir Korguzalov (Russian: Коргузалов, Владимир Леонидович), a

chief of engineers, major of Guard troops of 47th army of Voronezh front * Alexander Kvist (Russian: Квист, Александр Ильич), a Russian military engineer of

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

* César Cui, an army

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

and a teacher of fortifications, as well as a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

, known as a member of The Five, the group of Russian composers under the leadership of

Mily Balakirev Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev ( , ; ,BGN/PCGN romanization of Russian, BGN/PCGN romanization: ; ALA-LC romanization of Russian, ALA-LC system: ; ISO 9, ISO 9 system: . ; – )Russia was still using Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in E ...

dedicated to the production of a specifically Russian type of music *

Dmitri Dmitrievich Maksutov Dmitry Dmitrievich Maksutov (; – 12 August 1964) was a Soviet Union, Soviet Optical engineering, optical engineer and amateur astronomer. He is best known as the inventor of the Maksutov telescope. Biography Dmitry Dmitriyevich Maksutov was b ...

(1896–1964), a Russian/Soviet

optical engineer Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultravio ...

and amateur astronomer. He is best known as the inventor of the Maksutov telescope. * Alexander Lukomsky, a Russian military commander, General Staff, Lieutenant-General () who fought for the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was one of the organizers of the

Volunteer army The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...

during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. * Vladimir May-Mayevsky, a Russian army general and one of the leaders of the counterrevolutionary

White movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...

during the Russian Civil War *

Dmitri Mendeleev Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev ( ; ) was a Russian chemist known for formulating the periodic law and creating a version of the periodic table of elements. He used the periodic law not only to correct the then-accepted properties of some known ele ...

, a Russian

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

and inventor, credited as the creator of the

periodic table The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the elements, is an ordered arrangement of the chemical elements into rows (" periods") and columns (" groups"). It is an icon of chemistry and is widely used in physics and other s ...

of elements * Boris Mozhaev (Russian: Можаев, Борис Андреевич), a Russian writer and friend

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and Soviet dissidents, dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag pris ...

* Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929) * Mikhail Vasilievich Ostrogradsky, a Russian mathematician,

mechanician A mechanician is an engineer or a scientist working in the field of mechanics, or in a related or sub-field: engineering or computational mechanics, applied mechanics, geomechanics, biomechanics, and mechanics of materials. Names other than m ...

and

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

who is considered to be a disciple of

Leonhard Euler Leonhard Euler ( ; ; ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss polymath who was active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, logician, geographer, and engineer. He founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made influential ...

and one of the leading mathematicians of Imperial Russia * Nicholas Petin (Russian: Петин, Николай Николаевич), a Red Army general, chief of engineers of

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

* Alexei Polivanov, a Russian military figure *

Ivan Sechenov Ivan Mikhaylovich Sechenov (; – ) is a world-renowned medical scientist, physiologist, psychologist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and founder of Russian physiology and psychology, he is a pioneer in the field of central ner ...

, a Russian

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

, named by

Ivan Pavlov Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (, ; 27 February 1936) was a Russian and Soviet experimental neurologist and physiologist known for his discovery of classical conditioning through his experiments with dogs. Pavlov also conducted significant research on ...

as "The Father of Russian

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

", who authored ''Reflexes of the Brain'', introducing

electrophysiology Electrophysiology (from ee the Electron#Etymology, etymology of "electron" ; and ) is the branch of physiology that studies the electrical properties of biological cell (biology), cells and tissues. It involves measurements of voltage change ...

and

neurophysiology Neurophysiology is a branch of physiology and neuroscience concerned with the functions of the nervous system and their mechanisms. The term ''neurophysiology'' originates from the Greek word ''νεῦρον'' ("nerve") and ''physiology'' (whic ...

into laboratories and teaching of

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

* Eduard Totleben, a military engineer and

general who was in charge of fortification and

sapping Sapping is a term used in siege operations to describe the digging of a covered trench (a "sap") to approach a besieged place without danger from the enemy's fire. (verb) The purpose of the sap is usually to advance a besieging army's position ...

work during a number of important Russian military campaigns * Baron Peter von Uslar a Russian general, engineer and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

of German descent, known for his research of languages and

ethnography Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

of peoples of

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. * Pavel Yablochkov, a Russian

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

, the inventor of the

Yablochkov candle A Yablochkov candle (sometimes electric candle or Jablochkoff candle) is a type of electric carbon arc lamp, invented in 1876 by the Russian electrical engineer Pavel Yablochkov. Design A Yablochkov candle consists of a sandwich of two electrode ...

(a type of electric carbon

arc lamp An arc lamp or arc light is a lamp that produces light by an electric arc (also called a voltaic arc). The carbon arc light, which consists of an arc between carbon electrodes in air, invented by Humphry Davy in the first decade of the 1800s, ...

) and a businessman * Shuliachenko Aleksey Romanovich (Russian: Шуляченко, Алексей Романович), a Russian engineer, general and chemist, known as the "grandfather of the Russian Cement" * Golovin Kharlampiy Sergeevich (Russian: Головин, Харлампий Сергеевич), a rector of Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology * Nestor Buinitsky (Russian: Буйницкий, Нестор Алоизиевич), a Russian engineer, professor of fortification and lieutenant general.

Sources

External links

* ''

Anna Dostoyevskaya Anna Grigoryevna Dostoevskaya (née Snitkina; ; 30 August 1846 – 9 June 1918) was a Russian memoirist, stenographer, and assistant, as well as the second wife (from 1867) of writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. She was also one of the first female philat ...

'' * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{authority control Military academies of Russia Universities in Saint Petersburg Naval academies Educational institutions established in 1810 Engineering universities and colleges in Russia Military high schools Public universities and colleges in Russia Science and technology in Russia 1810 establishments in the Russian Empire