the first of the twelve Imperial universities of the Russian Empire, located in Moscow (1755—1917)
History of the University
Ivan Shuvalov and Mikhail Lomonosov promoted the idea of a university in Moscow, and Russian Empress Elizabeth decreed its establishment on 23 January [O.S. 12 January] 1755. The first lectures were given on 7 May [O.S. 26 April] 1755. Russians still celebrate 25 January as Students' Day. (Foundation of the university is traditionally associated with the feast of Saint Tatiana, celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church on 12 January Julian, which corresponds to 25 January Gregorian in the 20th–21st centuries.)
The present Moscow State University originally occupied the Aptekarskij dom on Red Square from 1755 to 1787.
Catherine the Great transferred the university to a Neoclassical building on the other side of Mokhovaya Street; that main building was constructed between 1782 and 1793 in the Neo-Palladian style, to a design by Matvei Kazakov, and rebuilt by Domenico Giliardi after the fire consumed much of Moscow in 1812.
In the 18th century, the university had three departments: philosophy, medicine, and law. The Medical Faculty was established together with the University in 1755 and became the first university medical faculty in Russia. Medical teaching began in 1758. During the nineteenth century it developed into one of the leading centres of university medical education and biomedical research in the Russian Empire. In 1930 the Faculty was separated from Moscow State University and reorganised as the First Moscow Medical Institute, the predecessor of the present-day First Moscow State Medical University.
A preparatory college was affiliated with the university until its abolition in 1812. In 1779, Mikhail Kheraskov founded a boarding school for noblemen (Благородный пансион), which in 1830 became a gymnasium for the Russian nobility. The university press, run by Nikolay Novikov in the 1780s, published the most popular newspaper in Imperial Russia: Moskovskie Vedomosti.
University Statute of 1804
Moscow University was transferred from the Senate to the Ministry of Education of the Russian Empire. Under the new Charter of the Imperial University of Moscow in 1804, the university was to be run by the University Council, which included ordinary and distinguished professors headed by the rector.
The rector was annually elected by a professorial assembly (closed voting with the help of white and black balls) and was approved personally by the Emperor of the Russian Empire. The deans of the faculties were also subject to election. The first elected rector was the historian and geographer Khariton Chebotarev. At the meetings of the council, not only the appointment of professors, honorary members, and adjuncts of the university was decided, but also the appointment of teachers in the gymnasium and the school of the district, and even the annual test of students. The meetings were to be held at least once a month. Annually the Council elected deans of faculties, which were approved by the Minister of Education.
The university was divided into four departments (faculty): moral and political sciences, physical and mathematical sciences, verbal sciences, medical sciences. Each department held its own meetings, on which a schedule was drawn up, tests were conducted for those wishing to obtain a degree, economic and financial issues were considered. The Faculty of Medicine was divided into departments: clinical (therapy), surgical, obstetrics. At the Faculty of Law, the teaching of natural, folk and Roman rights was introduced.
In total, according to the statute of 1804, 28 chairs were laid.
By the time Napoleon invaded the university, there were 215 students.
French invasion of Russia
Napoleon's invasion was a serious test for the Moscow University, which lost buildings, museum collections, scientific equipment, a library, and an archive that had lost many professors and students during the war in the Moscow fire that destroyed Moscow.
In August 1812, Moscow University was evacuated to Nizhny Novgorod. 42 boxes with the most valuable exhibits of the Museum of Natural History, books, instruments and instruments were sent. Also in the evacuation were sent to the professors, students and students, the university treasury, the most valuable books and things (including the minutes of the Conference, referring to the first years of the university). The road to Nizhny Novgorod, where Moscow University received a temporary shelter, took 19 days.
At the beginning of September, the main building of the University on Mokhovaya burned to ashes, as well as almost all university buildings in the adjacent territory.
After the French retreat in December 1812, the rector of the university returned to Moscow and a temporary commission was established to manage the university as part of the rector and the four senior professors in Moscow. The buildings for the temporary placement of the university were found not far from Mokhovaya Street. In May 1813, the last professors and convoys with the property of the university returned from Nizhny Novgorod. In August 1813, the classes of all four faculties of the university resumed. In the same year, 129 students were accepted. The final restoration of the university was completed in 1819 with the completion of the reconstruction of the main building on Mokhovaya.
University buildings were rebuilt again by 1819. By 1826 the library (up to 30,000 volumes) and the Mint-cabinet (3731 coins) had been restored.
Since the beginning of the 1820s, the number of students has constantly increased:
The visit of Emperor Nicholas I to Moscow University in 1826 resulted in the dismissal of the rector, who in his opinion did not implement the government's decisions with sufficient vigor. Under the ban was put the teaching of philosophy at the university, resumed only in 1845. The Emperor's dissatisfaction with the appearance of the Moscow students he met near the Kremlin entailed the introduction of a compulsory wearing of student uniforms, which students had to wear outside the university.
From the reaction of the 1820s, Moscow University suffered less than other universities of the Russian Empire. In 1833, a second building was purchased for the University of Moscow, located next to the main building on Mokhovaya Street, which was rebuilt in 1835 and named Auditor Corps.
University Statute of 1835
The University Statute of 1835 was the first general statute for all universities that introduced uniform rules for their existence. The new charter severely restricted university autonomy, abolished the university court that existed since the opening of the university, strengthened the general dependence of universities on administrative bodies. The powers of the rector and the competence of the University Council were significantly reduced. Inspector control over students was toughened. The tuition fee was raised (1841), which led to a general reduction in students, and a change in their composition. Suspecting the universities and their pets for their unreliability, the emperor issued a decree reducing the number of students. The number of students of the three main faculties was limited to three hundred people (1848). An exception was made only for the medical faculty. The rector was appointed Minister of Public Education and approved by the emperor.
At the same time, the charter also introduced changes that pertained to the structure of universities: the range of subjects studied was expanded, the number of departments increased, which allowed to increase their scientific level. The charter of 1835 introduced a four-year course of study, and the number of chairs was increased to 35. Auxiliary institutions at the university continued to develop: an astronomical observatory (1828) was founded, an office of comparative anatomy and physiology (1834), a hospital clinic was open and an anatomical-pathological cabinet 1846). In 1841 the medical and surgical academy existing in Moscow merged with the Medical Faculty of the university.
The forties and fifties were the heyday of the scientific activity of the Moscow University. Stepan Shevyrev and Fedor Buslaev read the history of Russian literature, Osip Bodyansky – Slavic languages, Timofey Granovsky and Pyotr Kudryavtsev – a universal story, Sergey Solovyov – Russian history, Konstantin Kavelin – the history of Russian legislation, Alexander Fischer von Waldheim – botany. In the second half of this century, Anatoly Bogdanov, Aleksandr Stoletov, August Davidov, Alexei Kozhevnikov, Nikolai Storozhenko, Leonid Kamarovsky, Alexander Chuprov, Sergei Muromtsev, Ivan Yanzhul, Vasily Klyuchevsky, Nikolai Tikhonravov, Kliment Timiryazev, Maxim Kovalevsky, Dmitry Anuchin, Nikolai Bugaev, Ivan Sechenov, Nikolai Zhukovsky, Vasili Zinger, Mikhail Menzbier, Nikolai Zograf, Friedrich Erismann, Pavel Vinogradov, Vsevolod Miller.
The number of students, initially increasing, falls during the reaction period:
University Statute of 1863
Student excitements of the 1860s were reflected in Moscow University, but they did not lead to its closure, as happened in St. Petersburg. In April 1855, the decree of Emperor Alexander II "On the admission to take an unlimited number of students to universities" was followed.
The Charter of 1863 is the most liberal of the university statutes of the Russian Empire. The statute restored autonomy to universities and weakened government custody of them. The scope of the Council of the university was expanded. The rector and deans were again elected, although the persons elected for their replacement had to be approved: the rector was the emperor, the deans were the minister of public education.
The new university charter created more favorable conditions for the development of science and education in Russia. According to the new statute, the staff of the Moscow University and the number of departments in its faculties were enlarged. There were 11 chairs at the Faculty of History and Philology, 10 in the Physics and Mathematics Department, 11 in the law faculty, and 23 at the medical school.
If in the original structure of the Imperial University of Moscow in the 18th century three faculties were provided for only 10 departments, in 1804 there were 28, in 1835 there were 35, then in 1863 their number increased to 53, and by 1884 to 56.
In the 1870s the number of students did not change significantly:
University Statute of 1884
The Charter limited the autonomy of the university, the role of the trustee of the educational district and the rector of the university, who was now elected Minister of Public Education, was significantly increased. The rights of the Councils of professors were minimized. The choice of the deans of the faculties was now assigned to the district trustee instead of the faculty meeting.