Saint Petersburg State University

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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 Great, the university from the beginning has had a focus on fundamental research in science, engineering and humanities.

During the

In international rankings, the university was ranked 35th by The Three University Missions Ranking in 2022,^[8] 242nd by the QS World University Rankings in 2022,^[9] 652nd by U.S. News & World Report in 2023,^[6] 601-800th by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings,^[5] and 301–400th by the Academic Ranking of World Universities in 2021.^[10]

History

1724–1821

It is disputed by the university administration whether Saint Petersburg State University or

In 1855, Oriental studies were separated from the Faculty of History and Philology, and the fourth faculty, Faculty of Oriental Languages, was formally inaugurated on 27 August 1855.^[13]

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 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 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.^[14]

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

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, Yevgeny Tarle, and Boris Grekov, 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.

1940–1999

During the 1941–44

Nikolay Kropachev (Кропачев Николай Михайлович), the rector of the Saint Petersburg State University has signed a letter of support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[17]

In early 2022, the university expelled 13 students who had protested against the

The university is a federal state institution of higher education managed by the

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.^[citation needed]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Academic year

The academic year 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).^{[citation needed]}

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

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.^[citation needed]

Faculties and Institutes

SPbSU is made up of 24 specialized faculties, which are:

There is also a Department of Physical Culture and Sports. (*rus)

Notable alumni and faculty

Russian revolutionary and founder of the

The American novelist Ayn Rand attended the university from 1920 to 1924, graduating with honors in history.^[27] Ukrainian nationalist and publicist Dmytro Dontsov studied law at the university for some time after 1900.

• 
  Mikhail Balugyansky
• 
  Antoine Jeudy Dugour
• 
  Ivan Shulgin
• 
  Pyotr Pletnyov
• 
  Izmail Sreznevsky
• 
  Aleksandr Voskresensky
• 
  Heinrich Lenz
• 
  Karl Kessler
• 
  Pyotr Redkin
• 
  Andrey Beketov
• 
  Ivan Andreevsky
• 
  Mikhail Vladislavlev
• 
  Ivan Pomyalovsky
• 
  Pyotr Nikitin
• 
  Vasily Sergeevich
• 
  Adolf Holmsten
• 
  Aleksandr Zhdanov
• 
  Ivan Borgman
• 
  David Grimm
• 
  Erwin Grimm
• 
  Sergei Zhebelev
• 
  Vladimir Shimkevich
• 
  Mikhail Serebryakov
• 
  Mikhail Artamonov
• 
  Aleksandr Aleksandrov
• 
  Lyudmila Verbitskaya
• 
  Nikolai Kropachev

See also

• Education in Russia
• List of universities in Russia
• Open access in Russia
• Smolny College
• List of early modern universities in Europe

References

Bibliography

• Lempert, David (1996). Daily Life in a Crumbling Empire: The Absorption of Russia into the World Economy. Eastern European Monograph Series. Vol. 2. Columbia University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-88033-341-2
  . - The history of the university, with a particular focus on the law faculty, from the 19th century to the perestroika period

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Petersburg State University.

• Saint Petersburg State University homepage
• History of St Petersburg University

59°56′31″N 30°17′56″E / 59.9420°N 30.2990°E / 59.9420; 30.2990