1724
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2024

History of St Petersburg University

St Petersburg University is the oldest university in Russia. It was founded by Decree of Emperor Peter the Great. Today, St Petersburg University is the only university in Russia that has marked its 290th anniversary. For almost three centuries of its history, St Petersburg University has been home to thousands of prominent scientists, public, government and political figures, writers, artists, and musicians. Among them are Dmitri Mendeleev, Alexander Popov, Ivan Turgenev, Pyotr Stolypin, Ivan Pavlov, Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak, Vasily Dokuchaev, Alexander Blok, Mikhail Vrubel, Mikhail Glinka, Nicholas Roerich, Lev Landau, Leonid Kantorovich, Vladimir Putin, and Dmitry Medvedev to name just a few.

2020

St Petersburg University online courses are in the top of the world rankings

St Petersburg University entered the world’s top 3 in terms of content among all organisations that offer online courses on the international educational platform Coursera. In 2020, St Petersburg University became a co-founder and the first representative of Russia in the Global Alliance for Massive Open Online Courses.

2020

Representative offices of St Petersburg University across the globe

In 2020, St Petersburg University opened five representative offices around the world (Korea, China, Spain, Greece, and Italy).

2019

Xi Jinping’s visit to St Petersburg University

St Petersburg University held a solemn ceremony to award the diploma of an honorary doctor of St Petersburg University to President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping. The event was attended by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and Rector of St Petersburg University Nikolay Kropachev.

2017

Representative offices of St Petersburg University

Hankuk University of Foreign Languages, Seoul, was the first to implement the project ‘Representative Office of St Petersburg University’. The project is set to provide assistance in organising and implementing joint research projects; promoting the Russian language and culture; and holding joint research, educational and cultural events.

2016

Academic degrees of St Petersburg University

The tradition that existed at the University from 1835 to 1918 was restored. Since 1 September 2016, in accordance with the Federal Law, St Petersburg University and Lomonosov Moscow University were granted the right to defend dissertations according to their own rules and to award their own academic degrees that are also recognised by the state. A year later, dissertations were defended for the first time in Russia to be awarded an academic degree from St Petersburg University.

2015

The Medical Clinic

The St Petersburg Multi-Field Clinical Complex was separated from the Pirogov National Medical and Surgical Centre to be part of St Petersburg University. Today, the Pirogov Clinic of High Medical Technologies at St Petersburg University is the leading multi-field medical, research and educational institution in Russia.

2014

The first online course

St Petersburg University introduced the first online course on the Coursera platform. It was ‘Introduction to Bioinformatics’. Today, St Petersburg University is actively engaged in developing and promoting online education. The courses are developed by the University academic staff who are the world’s leading experts.

2013

Area of St Petersburg University development

On behalf of the Chairperson of the Government of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, an interdepartmental working group was set under the leadership of the Minister of Economic Development to work out proposals to create a new campus of St Petersburg University. The working group also included representatives of the administrations of St Petersburg, the Leningrad Region, the presidential plenipotentiary office in the Northwestern Federal District, the State Duma, the Federation Council, and federal agencies.

2011

St Petersburg University starts to develop the Research Park at St Petersburg University

The cost of the state-of-the-art high-tech research equipment and infrastructure of the free access centre is more than 7.5 billion roubles.

2011

Open University

St Petersburg University began to publish its reports on all University’s activities in the open access. Among them are the reports on a range of topics: admissions, defences of graduation projects, competitions for the positions of academic staff, and competitions for mega-grants of St Petersburg University to name just a few. The policy of openness concerns all spheres of the University life. This means that the replacement of the positions of professors, associate professors, assistant professors, lecturers, and allocation of funds for research are carried out through competitive procedures. Any information, e.g. programmes and competitions, decisions and documents, and even graduation projects of the University students, is published on the official website.

2010

The St Petersburg University’s own forms of academic credentials

Since May 2010, St Petersburg University has issued its own diplomas in Russian and English. The University diploma has a number of distinctive features, both in terms of design and content. It aims to help graduates be competitive in the labour market.

2009

The law on the special status

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a law on the special status of St Petersburg University and Lomonosov Moscow University. St Petersburg University was granted the status of a unique research and educational complex and the oldest university in the country which was of significant importance for the development of Russian society. The special status of the University implies: a separate line in the budget of the Russian Federation; the right to conduct additional tests for all degree programmes; the right to independently establish its own educational standards; the right to award its own academic degrees; the right to determine its own rules for holding competitions for the positions of academic staff; the right to issue diplomas of its own model; the Rector of St Petersburg University shall be appointed by the President of the Russian Federation.

1992

St Petersburg University is an institution of the highest recognition

St Petersburg University is considered as an institution of the highest recognition and protection with special forms of state support and the status of an independent (autonomous) higher education institution in Russia. This decision is stipulated in the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation and in the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation ‘On especially valuable objects of cultural heritage of the peoples of the Russian Federation’.

1991

Academic Gymnasium

On the basis of specialised physical and mathematical boarding school No 45 established in 1963, the St Petersburg University Academic Gymnasium was opened. Today, the Academic Gymnasium is named after Dmitry Faddeev. It is included in the rankings of the leading schools in Russia.

1973

The Nobel Prize was awarded to Wassily Leontief

Wassily Leontief was awarded the Nobel Prize ‘for the development of the input-output method and for its application to important economic problems’. He was a graduate of the Socio-Economic Department of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Petrograd University.

1964

The Nobel Prize was awarded to Alexander Prokhorov

Alexander Prokhorov, who was a Soviet physicist and graduated from the Faculty of Physics of Leningrad State University in 1939, was awarded the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964 was divided: one half awarded to Charles Hard Townes; the other half jointly to Nicolay Basov and Alexander Prokhorov ‘for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle’.

1962

The Nobel Prize was awarded to Lev Landau

The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Academician Lev Landau ‘for his pioneering theories for condensed matter, especially liquid helium’. He was a graduate of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Leningrad State University.

1956

The Nobel Prize for the development of the theory of chain reactions

A graduate of the Mathematics Department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Petrograd University, Nikolay Semenov received the Nobel Prize for developing the theory of chain reactions.

1956

The Nobel Prize for the development of the theory of chain reactions

A graduate of the Mathematics Department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Petrograd University, Nikolay Semenov received the Nobel Prize for developing the theory of chain reactions.

1946

St Petersburg University organises the Student Scientific Society

1945

January-October

St Petersburg University History Museum

St Petersburg University established the University’s History Museum that is the oldest and one of the largest museums of the history of a higher educational institution in our country.

1941

The University students and staff go to the front

For the University and Russia, the Great Patriotic War became a severe test of physical, intellectual and moral strength. In the very first days of the war, hundreds of the University students and staff went to the front. At the end of June, volunteers began to form the people's militia.

1938

Kantorovich theorem

A graduate of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, Professor of Leningrad State University Leonid Kantorovich developed a theory that in 1975 brought him the Nobel Prize in Economics. The reason for creating the theory was the appeal to the scientist of the representatives of the central laboratory of the All-Union Plywood Trust, who wanted to increase productivity.

1930

Academic trial

Professors of the University were arrested in the so-called academic trial, or ‘Platonov case’: Sergey Platonov, Yevgeny Tarle, Vladimir Beneshevich, Mikhail Prisyolkov, Sergei Rozhdestvensky, Afrikan Krishtofovich.

1922

University professors expelled from Russia

Flights of passenger ships (the so-called ‘philosopher’s steamer’) were organised, delivering representatives of the intelligentsia expelled from the USSR from Petrograd to Stettin. The University lost its professors. Among them were Lev Karsavin, Ivan Lapshin, Nikolay Lossky, Aleksandr Bogolepov, Boris Odintsov, Dmitry Selivanov, Pitirim Sorokin.

1915

Olga Dobiash-Rozhdestvenskaia is the first female professor at the University

Olga Dobiash-Rozhdestvenskaia is the first female professor at the University. She is the second woman who defended the master’s thesis at the University (1915). She taught the history of medieval England.

1911

Dmitri Mendeleev's memorial museum apartment

St Petersburg University opened the memorial office of Dmitri Mendeleev, a brilliant Russian scientist, chemist, physicist, economist, metrologist, technologist, geologist, meteorologist, teacher, and aeronaut.During his work at the University, where Dmitry Mendeleev taught for more than 30 years, he made significant discoveries. He formulated one of the fundamental laws of nature, i.e. the periodic law of the chemical elements.

1904

Ivan Pavlov received the Nobel Prize

Ivan Pavlov, a graduate of the Natural Science Department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at the University, was the first Russian scientist to receive the Nobel Prize.

1901

Opening the first Physics Institute in Russia

On 9 September 1901, the first Physics Institute in Russia was opened at St Petersburg University. The building of the Physics Institute is primarily associated with the name of Ivan Borgman. Under his leadership and according to his plans, it was built, equipped and became the first building in Russia purposefully designed for physics classes. Ivan Borgman was the first director of the Physics Institute.

1895

Invention of the radio

At the meeting of the Physics Department of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society, Alexander Popov made a report on radio communication experiments and demonstrated a radio receiver that he had created and wireless signal transmission using an electric bell.

1878

Women’s higher education courses

St Petersburg University initiated the idea to offer women an opportunity to receive a university education in Russia. In 1878, with the participation of professors of the University, the Higher Women's Courses were opened. The courses were named ‘The Bestuzhev courses’ after their founder, Professor Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin. In 1919, the courses became part of the University.

1868

Scientific societies of the University

Since the end of the 1860s, scientific societies started to appear at the University. In 1868, the Society of Naturalists was formed. In 1869, the Russian Chemical Society was opened with the active participation of Dmitri Mendeleev. In 1878, it was transformed on his initiative into the Russian Physical and Chemical Society. Later, the Philological Society, Anthropological Society, and Historical Society were formed.

1863

The University new charter adopted

The University new charter was adopted. It was in force until 1884. The charter was based on the idea of the autonomy of the University as a corporation of professors.

1842

First concert of the University orchestra

In the Assembly Hall, there was the first concert of the University orchestra, led by the cellist, composer and conductor Karl Schuberth.

1834

First doctoral dissertation

The first doctoral dissertation was defended at the University. Konstantin Nevolin wrote and defended a scientific work on the topic ‘On the philosophy of law making of the ancients’.

1830

Order of Nicholas I of Russia on the transfer of the building to the University

Nicholas I of Russia ordered the transfer of the entire building of the Twelve Collegia to St Petersburg University and the Main Pedagogical Institute. The solemn act of opening the University in the reconstructed premises of the Twelve Collegia building took place in March 1838.

1821

Imperial University

St Petersburg University was awarded the title of Imperial University. Over the three centuries of its history, the University has changed its name several times together with St Petersburg – Petrograd – Leningrad. It was also named after political figures Andrei Bubnov and Andrei Zhdanov. The University has been known as St Petersburg University since 1991.

1819

University rebuilding

Alexander I of Russia approved the project drawn up by the trustee of the St Petersburg educational district Sergey Uvarov on the restoration of the University in St Petersburg through the transformation of the Main Pedagogical Institute. This act finally made the University as part of the system of the Ministry of National Education.

1783

January

Appointment of Ekaterina Dashkova as Director of the Academy of Sciences

Ekaterina Dashkova was appointed Director of the Academy of Sciences and became the first woman in the world to hold such a position.

1758

Mikhail Lomonosov is ordered to lead the research and education

The President of the Academy of Sciences Kirill Razumovski ordered Mikhail Lomonosov to lead education at the Academy of Sciences, the University, and the Gymnasium. From 1758 to 1764, the scientist prepared a number of projects to bring the Academy of Sciences to a good state, including proposals for the charter of the University.

1742

The construction of the Twelve Collegia building is completed

The Twelve Collegia building was designed by Domenico Trezzini. Initially, the Twelve Collegia was intended to house the highest government offices. The construction was completed by adding a two-story gallery on the western side of the building. The Twelve Collegia building was transferred to the University in 1835. Today, this architectural monument of the 18th century is the main building of St Petersburg University.

1726

January

Public lectures announced

Public lectures were announced and invited ‘all enthusiasts of good sciences and especially zealous people to study’.

1725

First foreign scientists invited to St Petersburg

When the Academy and the University opened, leading foreign scientists were invited. Among them were mathematicians Leonhard Euler; Nikolaus and Daniel Bernoulli; Christian Goldbach; astronomer and geographer Jean Delisle; and physicist Georg Krafft to name just a few.

1724

28 January (8 February)