ABSTRACT
ORIGINS, HISTORY, AND SCOPE ST. PETERSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY (SPBU) HAS A LONG AND UNIQUE tradition. Its establishment in 1724 by the decree of Peter the Great (January 22)1 marked the introduction of university education in Russia. According to the grand plan of Peter the Great to modernize Russia in anticipation of the era of Enlightenment, the first Russian University was founded as a part of the Russian Academy of Sciences-to allow academicians to teach and to replenish the Academy with young native talents. The Academic Gymnasium, that was to provide young students to the Academic University, was another constituent part of the Academy of Sciences. Thus, Peter the Great intended to build a system of advanced learning from the top. For various historic reasons the Academic University suspended most of its educational programs by 1766, but was reopened in 1819 by Emperor Alexander I according to his comprehensive educational reform. Moscow University was founded in 1755 by Empress Elizabeth I according to the plan developed by M.V.Lomonosov, a Russian Renaissance man and a former student, professor and Rector of the Academic University in St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg University and Moscow University were the only Russian universities established before the beginning of the 19th century.
