Graduates of the St Petersburg Teachers’ Seminary serving in public education of Western Siberia (1789–1818)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33910/1992-6464-2025-216-30-41Keywords:
Siberia, Tobolsk, Main Public School, classical gymnasium, public education reformsAbstract
Introduction. The article explores the regional characteristics of the development of the secular education system in Western Siberia during the final quarter of the 18th and the early 19th centuries, within the broader context of the educational reforms initiated by Catherine II and continued by Alexander I. The study aims to reconstruct the personal and professional biographies of the graduates of the St Petersburg Teachers’ Seminary who completed their studies in 1788 and became the first four teachers at the Main Public School in Tobolsk — the principal town of Siberia — which was later transformed into a classical gymnasium. The article examines the personal and professional profiles of these first teachers of the secular education in Tobolsk, their interaction with the local authorities and Siberian society, and their role in the development of public education in Western Siberia.
Materials and Methods. The study draws on sources from both central and local archives, including annual reports by directors, their correspondence with the administrators of the Kazan educational district, personal reports and petitions of teachers, and their artistic works and public speeches. The research employs standard methods used in the humanities: prosopographical, concrete historical, systemic, and comparative-historical analysis.
Results. The findings highlight the pivotal role played by the first teachers —graduates of the St Petersburg Teachers’ Seminary — in shaping classical education in Western Siberia. They ensured continuity of the public education reforms of the final quarter of the 18th and early 19th centuries, trained local teachers for district schools and gymnasiums, disseminated knowledge in natural sciences and humanities, contributed to the development of the material resources of their institutions, supported students’ literary creativity and pursuit of further education, and laid the foundations for classical education in Siberia.
Conclusions. The materials presented in this study may serve as a basis for further research into the history of classical education in Russia. They are also relevant for general and specialized university courses on the history of pedagogy and methods of teaching the humanities.
References
ИСТОЧНИКИ
Главное училищ правление Министерства Народного Просвещения. Российский государственный исторический архив (РГИА). Ф. 732. Оп. 1. Д. 1–495.
Замахаев, С. Н., Цветаев, Г. А. (1889) Тобольская губернская гимназия. Историческая записка о состоянии Тобольской гимназии за 100 лет ее существования. 1789–1889 гг. Тобольск: Типография Тобольского губернского правления, 356 c.
Комиссия об учреждении народных училищ. Российский государственный исторический архив (РГИА). Ф. 730. Оп. 1. Д. 1–274; Оп. 2. Д. 1–2036.
Матросов, П. Т. (1859) Исторические записки о Тобольской гимназии. Тобольские губернские ведомости. № 14, с. 155–158; № 15 (продолжение), с. 176–182; № 16 (продолжение), с. 190–193; № 17 (продолжение), с. 202–205; № 19 (окончание), с. 240–247.
Полное собрание законов Российской Империи с 1649 г. по 12 декабря 1825 г. Собр. 1, Т. XXII. 1784–1788. (1830) СПб.: Типография II Отделения Собственной Его Императорского Величества Канцелярии, 1158 с.
Попечитель Казанского учебного округа. Государственный архив Республики Татарстан (ГАРТ). Ф. 92. Оп.1. Д. 4, 12, 86, 210, 258, 374.
Речь, говоренная при первом открытом испытании и при открытии 4 класса в Тобольском Главном народном училище учителем высших классов Тимофеем Воскресенским, 1789 года июля 3 дня. (1789) Иртыш, превращающийся в Ипокрену, сентябрь, с. 19–20.
Речь, говоренная при открытом испытании Тобольского Главного народного училища высших классов учителем Иваном Лафиновым 1791 г. 3 января. (1791) Иртыш, превращающийся в Ипокрену, февраль. с. 1–5.
Формулярные списки чинов гражданского ведомства. Российский государственный исторический архив (РГИА). Ф. 1349. Оп. 4. Д. 24, 55, 69.
СПИСОК ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ
Алешинцев, И. А. (1912) История гимназического образования в России (XVIII и XIX век). СПб.: Издание О. Богдановой, 352 c.
Блажес, В. В., Созина, Е. К. (2012) История литературы Урала. Конец XIV–XVIII в. М.: Языки славянской культуры, 608 с.
Воронов, А. М. (1858) Федор Иванович де-Мириево или народные училища в России при императрице Екатерине II. СПб.: Типография Праца, 158 с.
Изместьева, Г. П. (2003) Классическое образование в истории России XIX века. М.: Пробел-2000, 335 c.
Святский, Д. О. (1908) Исторический очерк городов Севска, Дмитровска и Комарицкой волости. Орел: Типография Хализева, 152 с.
Цветаев, Г. А. (1890) О том, как в прошлом столетии Тобольская гимназия, называвшаяся тогда Главным народным училищем, приобретала себе учебные книги и пособия. Тобольские губернские ведомости, № 15, с. 14–16.
Юрцовский, Н. С. (1923) Очерки по истории просвещения в Сибири. Вып. 1. Ново-Николаевск: Сибирское областное государственное издательство, 246 с.
SOURCES
Glavnoe uchilishch pravlenie Ministerstva Narodnogo Prosveshcheniya [Main School Board of the Ministry of Public Education]. Rossijskij gosudarstvennyj istoricheskij arkhiv (RGIA) [The Russian State Historical Archive]. F. 732. Op. 1. D. 1–495. (In Russian)
Formulyarnye spiski chinov grazhdanskogo vedomstva [Official lists of civil service ranks]. Rossijskij gosudarstvennyj istoricheskij arkhiv (RGIA) [The Russian State Historical Archive]. F. 1349. Op. 4. D. 24, 55, 69. (In Russian)
Komissiya ob uchrezhdenii narodnykh uchilishch [Commission on the establishment of public schools]. Rossijskij gosudarstvennyj istoricheskij arkhiv (RGIA) [The Russian State Historical Archive]. F. 730. Op. 2. D. 1–2036. (In Russian)
Matrosov, P. T. (1859) Istoricheskie zapiski o Tobol’skoj gimnazii [Historical notes about the Tobolsk gymnasium]. Tobol’skie gubernskie vedomosti., no. 14, pp. 155–158; no. 15 (continuation), pp. 176–182; no. 16 (continuation), pp. 190–193; no. 17 (continuation), pp. 202–205; no. 19 (ending). pp. 240–247. (In Russian)
Polnoe sobranie zakonov Rossijskoi imperii s 1649 g. pо 2 dekabrya 1825 g. Sobr. 1. T. XXII. 1784–1788 [Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire from 1649 to December 12, 1825. Book 1. Vol. XXII. 1784–1788]. (1830) Saint Petersburg: The 2nd Section of His Imperial Majesty’s Chancellery Publ., 1158 p. (In Russian)
Popechitel’ Кazanskogo uchebnogo okruga [Trustee of the Kazan educational district]. Gosudarstvennyj arkhiv respubliki Tatarstan [State Archives of the Republic of Tatarstan (GART)]. F. 92. Op. 1. D. 4, 12, 86, 210, 258, 374. (In Russian)
Rech’, govorennaya pri otkrytom ispytanii i pri otkrytii 4 klassa v Tobol’skom Glavnom narodnom uchilishche uchitelem vysshikh klassov Timofeem Voscresenskim, 1789 goda iiulia 3 dnia [Speech given at the first open examination and at the opening of the 4th class in the Tobolsk main public school by the teacher of the higher classes Timofey Voskresensky, July 3, 1789]. (1789) Irtysh, prevrashchaiushchiisia v Ipokrenu, September, pp. 19–20. (In Russian)
Rech’, govorennaia pri otkrytom ispytanii Tobol’skogo Glavnogo narodnogo uchilishcha vysshykh klassov uchitelem Ivanom Lafinovym 1791 g. 3 ianvarya [Speech given at the open examination of the Tobolsk Main Public School of Higher Classes by teacher Ivan Lafinov, January 3, 1791]. (1791) Irtysh, prevrashchaiushchiisya v Ipokrenu, February, pp. 1–5. (In Russian)
Zamakhaev, S. N., Tsvetaev, G. A. (1889) Tobol’skaya gubernskaya gimnaziya. Istoricheskaya zapiska o sostoyanii Tobol’skoy gimnazii za 100 let eye sushchestvovaniya. 1789–1889 [Tobolsk Provincial Gymnasium. Historical Note on the State of the Tobolsk Gymnasium for 100 years of its Existence. 1789–1889]. Tobolsk: Printing house of the Tobolsk provincial government Publ., 356 p. (In Russian)
REFERENCES
Aleshintsev, I. A. (1912) Istoriya gimnazicheskogo obrazovaniya v Rossi (XVIII i XIX vek) [History of gymnasium education in Russia (XVIII and XX centuries)]. Saint Petersburg: Izdanie O. Bogdanovoj Publ., 352 p. (In Russian)
Blazhes, V. V., Sozina, E. K. (2012) Istoriya literatury Urala. Konets XIV–XVIII v. [History of literature of the Urals. Late 14th–18th centuries]. Moscow: Yazyki slavianskoi kul’tury Publ, 608 p. (In Russian)
Izmest’eva, G. P. (2003) Klassicheskoe obrazovanie v istorii Rossii XIX veka [Classical education in the history of Russia in the 19th century]. Moscow: Probel-2000 Publ., 335 p. (In Russian)
Sviatskii, D. O. (1908) Istoricheskij ocherk gorodov Sevska, Dmitrovska I Komaritskoi volosti [Historical sketch of the cities of Sevsk, Dmitrovsk and Komaritskaya parish]. Orel: Tipographiya Khalizeva Publ., 152 p. (In Russian)
Tsvetaev, G. A. (1890) O tom, kak v proshlom stoletii Tobol’skaya gimnaziya, nazyvavshayasya togda Glavnym narodnym uchilishchem, priobretala sebe uchebnye knigi I posobiya [About how in the last century the Tobolsk gymnasium, then called the Main public school, acquired textbooks and manuals for itself]. Tobol’skie gubernskie vedomosti, no. 15, pp. 14–16. (In Russian)
Voronov, A. M. (1858) Fedor Ivanovich de-Mirievo ili narodnye uchilishcha v Rossii pri imperatritse Ekaterine II. [Fyodor Ivanovich de-Mirievo or public schools in Russia under Empress Catherine II]. Saint Petersburg: Tipografiya E. Pratsa Publ., 158 p. (In Russian)
Yurtsovskij, N. S. (1923) Ocherki po istorii prosveshcheniya v Sibiri. Vyp. 1 [Essays on the history of education in Siberia. Iss. 1]. Novo-Nikolaevsk: Sibirskoe oblastnoe gosudarstvennoe izdatelstvo Publ., 246 p. (In Russian)
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Марина Юрьевна Лаптева (Автор)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The work is provided under the terms of the Public Offer and of Creative Commons public license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
This license permits an unlimited number of users to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, including commercial use.
This license retains copyright for the authors but allows others to freely distribute, use, and adapt the work, on the mandatory condition that appropriate credit is given. Users must provide a correct link to the original publication in our journal, cite the authors' names, and indicate if any changes were made.
Copyright remains with the authors. The CC BY 4.0 license does not transfer rights to third parties but rather grants users prior permission for use, provided the attribution condition is met. Any use of the work will be governed by the terms of this license.
