Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum

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Imperial Lyceum
Liceum building in Tsarskoe Selo 02.jpg
type of school high school
founding 1810
closure 1843
place Tsarskoye Selo
City with subject status St. Petersburg
Country Russia
Coordinates 59 ° 43 '3 "  N , 30 ° 23' 48"  E Coordinates: 59 ° 43 '3 "  N , 30 ° 23' 48"  E
student up to 100 (1832)

The Imperial Lyceum in Tsarskoye Selo (also Alexander Lyceum , Pushkin Lyceum ) near Saint Petersburg was founded by Tsar Alexander I at the beginning of the 19th century as an elite school for boys.

school

19th century drawing of the Lyceum

The lyceum was located in the four-story "new" wing of the Catherine Palace , the imperial summer residence in Tsarskoye Selo. Some adjustments were made to the lyceum, such as the establishment of a sickroom, kitchen and other domestic facilities. The wing made available to the Lyceum, however, turned out to be so dilapidated that extensive renovations were necessary only nine years after moving in, which was carried out by Vasily Petrovich Stasov .

founding

Originally, the school was founded according to the order of Tsar Alexander I in August 1810 to educate Nikolaus I and Michail Pavlovich, the Alexander I siblings, together with their peers and away from the court. The aim was to prepare them for their later duties at court.

The other school places were reserved for the education of noble children from the best families in Russia, for whom careers as state officials were planned. The school was considered the highest educational institution in Tsarist Russia . The lyceum was officially opened on October 19, 1811. The school was initially under the leadership of the Ministry for National Education, later the military office. Children of noble origin between the ages of 10 and 12 were accepted. At the beginning only about 30 students were taught, later this number rose to 100 (1832).

Lesson design

The 14-year-old Pushkin contributes Derzhavin before the Lyceum a poem

Just as at the beginning of school the ideas about the content and goals of the lesson were not yet clearly defined, the teaching staff was also put together rather randomly. The result was an unstructured curriculum and, mostly very young, underqualified professors who barely met the demands of a normal high school . This only changed after the Imperial Romanov family abandoned their plans to train Nicholas I and Mikhail in Tsarskoye Selo. As a result, the interest and interference of the court in the school decreased significantly. This distance was strengthened by the first director, who paid attention to the strict seclusion of the students and enforced this by means of restricted exit permits and restrictions on visits by relatives.

Due to this isolation, an independent school climate developed, which was shaped by a few young professors with humanistic pedagogical ideas. A sense of honor, independence and respect for personal dignity were promoted. These ideals were also expressed in the prohibition of corporal punishment. This led to a strong camaraderie and friendship between the students, some of which went well beyond their school days and determined the behavior of the young nobles.

The training lasted six years (initially two three-year courses each, from 1836 four courses of 1.5 years each) and the following disciplines were taught:

  • Ethics (the law of God, ethics, logic, law, political economy)
  • Language and literature (Russian, Latin, French and German literature and language, rhetoric)
  • History (Russian and general history, physical geography)
  • Mathematics and physics (mathematics, physics and astronomy, mathematical geography, statistics)

The first three years were primarily devoted to the study of languages. In addition, mathematics, rhetoric, but also dance, swimming, fencing and horse riding were taught. There was no fixed teaching program for the second three years. Mathematics, physics, languages, literature and ethics were taught. Later studies in the fields of psychology, military strategy, economic policy, criminal law etc. followed.

The curriculum has been changed several times, but the humanities-legal orientation has been retained. Later, the training was put on an equal footing with the university and the graduates received civil ranks of the 9th grade. At Christmas 1843, the school was relocated to Saint Petersburg and continued there under the name Alexander Lyceum.

Graduates

During the 33 years of existence of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum , the school had 236 graduates. The best known were:

Web links

Commons : Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files