Отставка профессора Московского университета П. Г. Виноградова после конфликта с министром народного просвещения П. С. Ванновским в 1901 г.: источниковедческий аспект

Abstract

1901 was a turning point in the life of the world-famous Russian and British historian and lawyer P. G. Vinogradov. As a result of a clash with P. S. Vannovsky, Minister of National Enlightenment, he resigned and left Russia for England. The reason for the conflict was different assessment of the role of the Moscow University student year meetings for university management by the professor and the minister. The year meetings were held in October-November 1901 in order to discuss V. P. Meshchersky’s mocking article on the prospects of women’s university education in Russia, which caused a public outcry. A commission headed by P. G. Vinogradoff conducted the meetings. The minister, when arriving in Moscow, complained that the commission was headed by a professor, not the rector. Behind his displeasure was a deeper discrepancy in understanding of the university autonomy and role of professors. P. G. Vinogradoff expressed the opinion of the liberal part of Russian professorship. He believed it possible to form student self-government under the guidance of professors, which implied the independence of the professorship. A new university charter was to restore the university autonomy. P. S. Vannovsky defended the principle of subordination of professors to the authorities, whose policies they were to conduct as civil servants. It was natural for him to send the professor back to the university without any guarantees of changes in the university management. The conflict of interests was clearly revealed in the correspondence between P. G. Vinogradoff and P. S. Vannovsky. In this conflict, students supported P. G. Vinogradoff, as evidenced by the addresses published here, which they handed to the professor after the news spread about his departure from the Moscow University. These documents point to formation of student solidarity and possibility of combining of efforts of professors and students in their struggle to restore the university autonomy.