Professor õppekeele vahetuse situatsioonis: Jevgeni Shmurlo Tartu ülikoolis 1891-1903

Abstract

A Professor during the Change of the Language of Instruction: J. F. Shmurlo at the University of Tartu in 1891–1903 Ljudmila Dubjeva University of Tartu Library In the context of the late 19th century university reform and the transition from German-medium instruction to Russian-medium instruction (officially in 1893) the lecturing staff at the University of Tartu was gradually replaced. The lecturers at the faculty of history and linguistics chair of history were gradually replaced within ten years, and the chair adopted Russian-medium instruction; as of 1891 Aleksander Bruckner, Professor of Russian history, was replaced with Professor Yevgeni Shmurlo (1853–1934, in Tartu 1891–1903); Richard Hausmann, Professor of general history (Middle Ages), with Professor Anton Jassinski (1864–1933, in Tartu 1896–1911) in 1896; and Professor of general history (Modern age) Otto Waltz with Professor Pavel Ardashev (1865–1924, in Tartu 1901–1903) as late as in 1901. Before coming to Tartu, Shmurlo had been a private associate professor at the University of St Petersburg, focusing mainly on the age of Peter I in his lectures, while he also taught at the women’s courses at St Petersburg. In the years 1891–1895 he was a Professor Extraordinarius and in 1895–1903 the replacement of a Professor in Ordinary at the University of Tartu. As a historian, he discovered Italian archives for Russian history, and received the title doctor honoris causa from the University of Padua in 1892 for this. Shmurlo began his activities when the University still used German as the medium of instruction. Shmurlo’s predecessor, Professor of Russian history Aleksander Bruckner (worked at the University of Tartu in 1872–1891) held lectures on Russian history in Russian but provided explanations and held seminars in German. In case of Russian history, the language of instruction in lectures was not changed at all but when Shmurlo started work, seminars were also held in Russian. While his lectures were attended by 14 people in 1891, autumn semester, 9 of those had been attending A. Bruckner’s lectures in the spring semester of the same year. As of 1897, when the authorities allowed accepting the alumni of I rank theological seminaries into the University, the student body increased, it started to include students of various nationalities, while Russian students became the majority group. In 1895–1900 Shmurlo was the head of the University of Tartu Library. Proceeding from the practical needs of the reformed University, a student library (sources and reference books, a sufficient number of copies) was created upon his initiative; this served Humaniora students until 2005 in only a slightly different format. Around the turn of the century, the professors at the University of Tartu were divided into camps: Germans and Russians, liberals and conservatives, whereas the Russian liberals could more easily find common grounds with the Germans than the conservatives of their nationality. Shmurlo was one of the liberals. Owing to his delicate wording, which emphasised only literary achievements and left religious and philosophical questions aside, Leo Tolstoy was successfully elected an Honorary Doctor of the University of Tartu in 1902. Shmurlo’s example proves that Russian was used, when necessary, at the University of Tartu even before the transition to Russian- medium instruction, whereas a delicate and intelligent professor could smooth the contradictions between German and Russian professors and their differing world views, so that the relations would stay on strictly academic grounds.