Foundation of Voronezh State University

Abstract

The article is devoted to the history of foundation of University in Voronezh. The idea of establishing a regional university appeared since the beginning of the 19th century. This issue had already been discussed by Voronezh society and the educational community. Nevertheless, the implementation of this idea became possible only in 1918 when the Russian teaching staff of former Yuriev (Derpt) University was evacuated from Estonia to Russia. This relocation was not a random event since Voronezh was an administrative, economic and cultural centre of Black Earth Region of Russia. In the early XIX it had been planned that it would be one of the Russian cities where the universities should be open. In 1879 the newspaper Novoe vremya published the article “Voronezh University” where the author raised the question of establishing a University. In 1907–1908 the idea was substantiated by an eminent geographer P. Semenov- Tyan-Shansky. And only in spring 1918, when Yuriev was occupied by Germans and the professors of Yuriev University were looking for a new location, the question was settled at the governmental level. In autumn 1918 the first lecture was delivered and the history of Voronezh University began.