Herzen University, Saint Petersburg

Russian State Pedagogical University. A. I. Herzen (Russian State Pedagogical University named after A. I. Herzen, Herzen University) is one of the leading pedagogical higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation. Since January 1, 2015, the full official name is the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Russian State Pedagogical University named after I.I. A. I. Herzen. The only pedagogical university included in the "Top-100" universities in Russia according to the magazine "Expert" (45th place, 2015).

The university is named after the Russian writer, politician and philosopher Alexander Ivanovich Herzen.

 

History

In 1797, the St. Petersburg Orphanage, by order of Emperor Paul I, was equalized in rights with the Moscow branch of the Orphanage (the institutions had existed since 1764). In the same 1797, he was taken under the patronage of Empress Maria Feodorovna, who gave significant scope to the care of orphans. RGPU them. A. I. Herzen, considering himself the successor of the ideas and values of the Orphanage, considers 1797 to be the date of its foundation.

In the Orphanage, orphans were given not only food and shelter, but also a profession. Here the foundations of female pedagogical education were laid: classes were created for the training of governesses, mentors, teachers of music, languages, callisthenia (physical education). In 1837, the classes were reorganized into the Orphan Institute, which received the name of Emperor Nicholas I in 1855. For girls from heterogeneous families, the Alexandrinsky Orphan Institute was created, which in 1905 became the first women's vocational school to train nannies, milliners, and teachers for primary heterogeneous schools.

In 1903, on the basis of the commercial pedagogical courses of the Orphanage, the Higher Women's Pedagogical Institute was established (since 1912 - the Imperial Institute). He produced subject teachers for gymnasiums. This institute became the country's first state institution of higher education for women.

In 1918, on the basis of the Orphanage, by order of the People's Commissariat of Education, the Third Petrograd Pedagogical Institute was founded, which began to graduate thousands of teachers annually for newly created schools. In 1920, the Institute was named after A. I. Herzen. In 1922-1923, the 1st and 3rd Pedagogical Institutes were merged into the Petrograd State Pedagogical Institute named after A. I. Herzen.

The scientific and educational work of the Institute did not stop even during the years of military trials of the Great Patriotic War. In 1942, the Academy of Communist Education named after N. K. Krupskaya was attached to the institute. He was evacuated to the Urals in the city of Kyshtym. In the post-war years, the institute turned into the largest teacher training center in the USSR.

In 1957, the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute named after M.N. Pokrovsky was merged with the Institute named after A.I. Herzen.

January 21, 1991 LGPI them. A. I. Herzen was certified as a university and received the name "Russian State Pedagogical University named after A. I. Herzen."

In 1993, the university became one of the first universities in Russia to start an experiment on the introduction of a multi-level system of higher education.

There are more than 30 scientific schools at Herzen University.

 

Ratings

In 2014, the Expert RA agency included the university in the list of the best higher educational institutions of the Commonwealth of Independent States, where it was assigned a rating class "D".

In 2019, the university entered the Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings 2019, where it took 101-200 positions.

In 2022, the university entered the Three Missions of the University International Ranking, where it took a position in the range of 1301-1400 (63-71 places among Russian universities).

Also in 2022, it took 36th place in the RAEX ranking "100 best universities in Russia" and 40th place in the ranking of the influence of Russian universities (RAEX), 2022.

In the RAEX subject rankings, the university is included in the lists of the best universities in 4 areas of training: teacher education, geography, linguistics and foreign languages, and psychology.

 

Educational divisions

institutions
Institute of Oriental Studies
Childhood Institute
Institute of Defectological Education and Rehabilitation
University of the Foreign languages
Institute of Information Technology and Technological Education
Institute of History and Social Sciences
Institute of Music, Theater and Choreography
Institute of the Peoples of the North
Institute of Pedagogy
Institute of Psychology
Institute of Russian as a Foreign Language
Institute of Physics
Institute of Physical Culture and Sports
Institute of Human Philosophy
Institute of Art Education
Institute of economics and management

Faculties
Faculty of Life Safety
Faculty of Biology
Faculty of Geography
Faculty of Mathematics
Faculty of Philology
Faculty of Chemistry
Faculty of Law

Branches
Volkhov branch
Vyborg branch
Dagestan branch
Branch in Tashkent (Republic of Uzbekistan)

 

Non-training divisions

Museum of the History of the Russian State Pedagogical University. A. I. Herzen
The Museum of the History of the RSPU (then LGPI) was founded in 1974 by A. A. Akhayan (1908-1977), Honored Worker of Culture of the USSR. It contains materials reflecting the history of pedagogical institutions in St. Petersburg, starting from 1770.

The materials are stored in the personal funds of professors of literary criticism N. P. Grinkova (1895-1961), F. P. Filin, methodologists for teaching natural sciences P. I. Borovitsky (1846-1966), S. A. Pavlovich (1884-1966 ), chemistry V. N. Verkhovsky (1873-1947), teachers A. P. Pinkevich (1884-1939), V. N. Soroka-Rosinsky and others.

The museum stores letters, postcards, drawings, autographed photographs of famous scientists, writers, artists, composers, artists: V. M. Bekhterev, L. F. Lesgaft, I. I. Tolstoy, V. A. Dogel, P. F. Kaptereva, O. F. Bergholz, L. Dudin, E. A. Dolmatovsky, Yu. V. Tolubeev, L. I. Egorova and many others.

The museum's fund contains more than 16,500 photographic materials.

Fundamental library named after Empress Maria Feodorovna
The Fundamental Library of the University has contributed to the research and teaching activities of the University.

In 1873, a reading room was opened at the Orphan Nicholas Institute; in 1877, the first rules for working in the capital library appeared, and in 1887 it received the status of fundamental.

After the revolution, large book stocks of a number of closed educational institutions joined the library funds, including: the First Women's Pedagogical Institute; Higher Women's Historical, Literary and Legal Courses of N. P. Raeva; Higher Women's Natural Science Courses M. A. Lokhvitskaya-Skalon; the former Preschool Institute and the Institute of Pedology and Defectology (Institute of Social Education), etc.

In 1941, the libraries of the Institute of Journalism named after A.I. V. V. Vorovsky, Communist Pedagogical Institute named after N. K. Krupskaya, part of the library of the Institute of the Peoples of the Far North, the Second Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages and the library of the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute. M. N. Pokrovsky.

By the decision of the Academic Council of the University No. 7 dated April 25, 2002, the fundamental library of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after. A. I. Herzen was named after Empress Maria Feodorovna.

 

Scientific periodicals

Proceedings of the Russian State Pedagogical University. A. I. Herzen
Since 2018 at the Russian State Pedagogical University named after. A. I. Herzen, a program to support scientific periodicals is being implemented, within the framework of which work was launched to create and develop 8 network scientific journals.

Journal of Applied Linguistics and Lexicography
Physics of Complex Systems
Amur Zoological Journal
Journal of Integrative Cultural Studies
Integrative Physiology
Language Studies and Contemporary Humanities
Comprehensive Childhood Studies
Human psychology in education

 

Architectural and Landscape Complex of the University

The main territory of the university occupies most of the block, bounded by Nevsky Prospekt, Kazanskaya Street, Gorokhovaya Street and the Moika River Embankment (postal address - Moika River Embankment, 48).

On the Moika, 48 buildings of different eras (baroque, early classicism, empire, late classicism) are among the most mature monuments of the corresponding periods in the history of architecture. The architectural complex has an original picturesque appearance due to the free, asymmetric arrangement of architectural structures, monuments, park compositions. The complex of buildings occupied by the Herzen University is included in the UNESCO list of world heritage sites under international protection.

Separate faculties of the Herzen University are located in other parts of the city.

 

Main building

The main building of the university - the palace of K. G. Razumovsky - is located at 48 Moika Embankment (architects A. F. Kokorinov, Wallen-Delamot). Since 1797, the palace housed the St. Petersburg Orphanage, since 1834 - the orphan's department (since 1837 - the Nikolaev Orphan's Institute), since 1918 - the Pedagogical Institute (now the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A. I. Herzen).

The entire second floor of the building is pierced by a corridor, the walls of which are decorated with paintings dedicated to the past of the orphanage (mainly landscapes). Corridor extensions form three halls - Guardianship, Imperial and Rector's (from north to south). These halls contain portraits of people who played a significant role in the formation and development of the Orphanage, the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute, Herzen University.

The building houses the administration of the university and some services.

Between the 5th building and Kazanskaya street there is an "Old" garden. When, after the revolution, all the buildings on the Moika were occupied by a higher educational institution, here, in the Old Garden, in a small two-story outbuilding, a children's hearth (orphanage) functioned for several more years, then a building was built on this site, where the specialized Orphanage No. 10 was located At the beginning of the 21st century, the dilapidated building was demolished and a modern electrical substation was built in its place in the garden, replicating the appearance of the wing.

From the side of Kazanskaya Street, the garden is limited by a lattice, designed by A. N. Voronikhin and which is part of the ensemble of Kazanskaya Square.

 

Other buildings on the Moika

The neighboring buildings (Moika embankment, 50 and 52) are also buildings of the former St. Petersburg Orphanage. House 50 was built in 1750-1753 according to the design of F.-B. Shot for the wealthy merchant G. Kh. Stegelman. In 1764, Stegelman's house was purchased by the treasury. In 1765-1768. the building was rebuilt in the classicist style by architect Antonio Rinaldi. Later, the main building and side wings were built on, Stegelman's house and Razumovsky's palace were connected by a three-story building, extensions were made from the side of the garden.

The building at number 52 was built at the beginning of the 19th century, acquired for the Orphanage in 1834. Rebuilt in 1839-1843 according to the project of the architect P. S. Plavov. In front of the building in 1868, a bust of Ivan Ivanovich Betsky was installed - an enlarged copy made by the sculptor A.P. Lavretsky from the original by Ya. I. Zemelgak (1803).

Behind houses 50 and 52 is "Mama's Garden".

 

Other buildings in Saint Petersburg

On Malaya Posadskaya Street, 26 - the building of the former Women's Pedagogical Institute. Rebuilt in 1904-1906 by architects A. I. Zazersky and V. V. Starostin. The interiors of the house church were made in 1906 according to the project of N. V. Sultanov. (Not preserved). Before the Institute, this site was the building of the Cable Plant (M. M. Chizhov, 1895-1896, F. K. von Pirwitz, 1898).

In the western and eastern parts of Vasilyevsky Island there are, respectively, the Faculty of Music (Kakhovsky Lane near the Baltic Yung Square) and the Faculty of Philology (V. O. Line 1, not far from the Tuchkov Bridge); the latter occupies the historical building of the Russian Philological Academy, and the traditions of literature have not been interrupted within these walls since the beginning of the 19th century.

One of the buildings of the Institute of Computer Science and Technological Education is located on Voznesensky Prospekt at 39A (the other part is located in one of the buildings on the Moika Embankment). The Institute of the Peoples of the North and the Faculty of Life Safety are located in the Kirovsky District on Stachek Avenue, the Faculty of Physical Education is located on Ligovsky Avenue. The Childhood Institute is located on Moskovsky Prospekt, almost opposite the Frunzenskaya metro station. Primary school teachers and pre-school education workers are trained here.

 

Monuments and other places of interest

In front of the main building on June 30, 1961, a monument to Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky was unveiled by sculptors V. V. Lishev and V. I. Yakovlev.
In 1868, a bronze bust of Ivan Ivanovich Betsky was unveiled in front of the current 1st building. The bust was copied (enlarged) by the sculptor A.P. Laveretsky from a marble bust by Ya.I. Zemelgak (1803).
Memorial monument to the Herzen heroes, erected in honor of students and teachers of the Russian State Pedagogical University. A. I. Herzen, who went to the front during the Great Patriotic War.
On the first floor of the main building there is a plaster bust of Alexander Ivanovich Herzen.
in the Fundamental Library. Empress Maria Feodorovna has a plaster bust of her.
Behind the main building, in Mamka's Garden, is the foundation stone of the future monument to the pelican, which in the early 2000s promised to give them to the RSPU. A. I. Herzen FC Zenit.
On September 25, 2009, between building 20 and the building of the dispensary, a monument to Confucius was opened - a gift to the university from the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in St. Petersburg. The ceremony was attended by Consul General Erlong Tian and First Vice-Rector of Shanghai University of Foreign Studies Jinhua Tian. In building 20 on the 1st floor there is a Chinese cultural center.
On June 19, 2018, next to the 6th building, where the University Admissions Office is located, the sculpture "Thinking" was opened. It symbolizes the thoughts of a young man about the future. Young people are faced with a choice of where to go. The appearance of the second bird at the bottom of the composition indicates that after some time it will fly off the shoulder, which means that the right direction will be found. This monument is the first example of modern sculpture on the territory of the university. The author of the sculpture is a member of the Union of Artists of Russia VV Zaiko.
On September 6, 2018, the opening of the sculptural composition "Two" took place. The composition is an image of a pair of happy lovers. The work of the St. Petersburg sculptor A. A. Arkhipov.
On October 7, 2018, a memorial sign to Vladimir Vysotsky was unveiled. It is made in the form of a bronze bas-relief (120x80 cm), an autograph and the words of one of his songs are engraved under the portrait of Vysotsky: “Peace to your home!”. The bronze bas-relief became the first monument to the poet in St. Petersburg. The author of the memorial sign is a member of the Union of Artists of Russia L. A. Petrova.
On April 15, 2019, a monument to Nikolai Gumilyov was unveiled. The opening ceremony of the sculpture took place on the day of the 133rd anniversary of the poet's birth. The monument on the territory of the Pedagogical University became the first sculptural image of Nikolai Gumilyov in St. Petersburg. The author of the sculptor is a member of the Union of Artists A. A. Arkhipov.
On July 23, 2019, 33 lime trees were solemnly planted and the alley of the Total Dictation was laid. On August 3, 2020, signs were installed on the alley - also 33. It's not just about the number of letters of the Russian alphabet, but it so happened that approximately the same number of trees is required to produce paper forms for writing the Total Dictation. Thus, the alley has become a kind of environmental component of the project, aimed at restoring natural resources. The signs that adorn the alley have collected the most “Petersburg” words, one for each letter of the alphabet. The Petersburg alphabet was compiled according to polls of citizens. Next to the alley there is a large red letter "á", which is part of the logo of the Total Dictation.
On November 14, 2019, the opening of the sculptural composition "Three Graces" took place. The triptych symbolizes the different hypostases of femininity. The author of the sculptural composition is a member of the Union of Artists of St. Petersburg V. A. Petrovichev.
On September 24, 2020, a solemn ceremony of planting three sakura trees (Prunus serrulata "Kanzan") took place. The trees were donated to the university by the Consul General of Japan in St. Petersburg as a token of long-term friendship.

 

Agrobiological station

Agrobiostation (ABS) RSPU im. A. I. Herzen is located in the village of Vyritsa, Gatchinsky District, Leningrad Region, is the educational, methodological and scientific base of the Faculty of Biology. Here, 1st-3rd year students undergo educational practice and conduct experiments on the topics of final qualification works.

ABS RSPU has been functioning since 1937 as a subdivision of the Faculty of Biology for conducting educational field practices in biological, geographical and agricultural disciplines. At the agrobiological station, the departments of field crops, vegetable growing, fruit and berry crops, animal husbandry (poultry, rabbits, bees), plant physiology, plant taxonomy, genetics, meteorology, local history, decorative floriculture and tree and shrub species are organized. It conducts research on environmental monitoring of the Oredezh River, its tributaries and floodplain reservoirs.

 

Geostation "Iron" or "Zhelezo"

Geostation "Zhelezo" is located in the town of Zhelezo, Luga district, Leningrad region. Here, students of the Faculty of Geography have internships in topography, meteorology, geomorphology, soil science, hydrology, landscape science, geobotany, zoogeography, etc. Students of the faculties of biology and physical culture of the RSPU named after A.I. A. I. Herzen.

 

Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul

On the territory of RGPU them. A. I. Herzen has an active church - the temple of the holy apostles Peter and Paul. It is located in building 20, in the premises of the former house church at the Imperial School for the Deaf and Dumb. During the 70 years of Soviet power, the premises were used in various ways, mainly as a student theater. The premises were handed over to the needs of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1999, although the first service after a 70-year break was held back in 1997. This church is one of the few places in St. Petersburg where Orthodox services are held with sign language translation. The church is located on the 3rd floor of the educational building, however, it has a special entrance and a separate staircase. In 2013, in the opening of a sealed window, on the wall behind the altar of the temple, the image of the Savior was installed by the church community. It is a copy of a fresco by Archimandrite Zinon (Theodore) from the Feodorovsky Cathedral.

 

Awards

Honorary Diploma of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg (May 14, 1997) - for merits in the development of higher pedagogical education and culture in St. Petersburg and in connection with the 200th anniversary of its founding.