The Nutrition of the Kyiv Theological Academy Students (1819–1869)

Abstract

The article depicts the peculiarities of Kyiv Theological Academy students’ nutrition in the years of 1834–1863. The investigation uses documents from the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Kyiv. These are mainly monthly and annual economic reports which inform about the filling of the student’s menu during the year and logs of behavior, where the inspector recorded deviations from the rules by students. Archival documents help to illuminate aspects connected to the nutrition of students of Kyiv Theological Academy. The ego-documents of graduates, notes, instructions of rectors, economists, and inspectors of the educational institution are extremely important.Attention is paid to regulatory requirements on food that are in the “Statut” of the theological academies. The Nutrition of students in Kyiv Theological Academy depended on many aspects and did not remain stable during 1819–1869. The students could diversify their diet at their own expense. The student menu was considered, and an attempt was made to analyze the changes that occurred with the filling of the student menu during these years. Also the paper describes how the diet changed depending on the period of the liturgical year. The traditions of informal students’ meetings and the use of prohibited (alcohol) and permitted (tea) drinks by the students are considered.Special attention is paid to the question of the diet and nutrition value of products for students. Сalculations are approximate, but there are reasons to conclude that the food energy value was enough for the students’ nutrition in the Academy at least on ferias.