Presidential Library’s video lecture spotlights famous graduates of the Karl May School

October 30, 2020, 11:00 Moscow time, the Presidential Library, as part of the Knowledge of Russia project, will host a video lecture entitled "They are proud of the school, the country, the world", dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Karl May School History Museum.

Anyone can join the video lecture. The meeting will be held remotely and will be broadcasted live on the Presidential Library's portal in Live broadcasts section in accordance with the program of live events, on the institution's YouTube channel, as well as VKontakte social network.

The Karl May School was opened on September 22, 1856 on Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg as a private German male educational institution. The school was headed by a talented teacher-practitioner Karl Ivanovich May (1820–1895). The upbringing and education system created by him provided for mutual respect and trust of teachers and students, constant interaction with the student's family, the desire of teachers to recognize and develop the individual abilities of each child, teach him to think independently. The motto of the school was the words of the founder of pedagogy Jan Amos Komensky "First love, then teach".

Many graduates of the educational institution have achieved great success in various fields of activity: among its students are Rear Admiral Pyotr Rimsky-Korsakov, writer Lev Uspensky, artists Alexander Benois, Nicholas Roerich, Valentin Serov, Konstantin Somov. In Soviet times, astronaut Georgy Grechko, academician Dmitry Likhachev graduated from this educational institution.

The museum exposition spotlights the main stages of the history of the educational institution. Visitors have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with school items, textbooks, personal belongings of students and teachers, furnishings and equipment of classrooms, and feel the atmosphere of the school.

A graduate of the Karl May School of 1949, founder and director of the Museum of the History of the Karl May School, Nikita Blagovo, will tell at the video lecture about the state and military leaders who were educated at this famous educational institution. Museum workers Dmitry Polyakov, Tatyana Tyulikina and the head of the Karl May School Friends Society project Murat Valiev will also dedicate their performances to the school's achievements. The participants of the video lecture will learn about the continuation of the pedagogical traditions of the educational institution from the teacher of school number 323, honorary worker of general education of the Russian Federation, Tatyana Kochetkova.

Specialists of the Museum-Institute of the Roerich Family: Deputy Director for Museum-Exhibition and Excursion-Methodological Work Yulia Budnikova and Deputy Director for Research Anna Savkina have opportunity to join the discussion. The video lecture will be attended by a veteran of pedagogical work, honorary worker of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Irina Gribova and director of gymnasium No. 209 of the Central District of St. Petersburg, candidate of historical sciences Dmitry Efimov.

The Karl May School History Museum has been a long-term partner of the Presidential Library. The works of the director of the museum Nikita Blagovo on the history of the famous school enter the electronic collections of the Presidential Library.

The institution's portal provides free access to the collection "History of Education in Russia", which includes publications illustrating the development of higher, primary, gymnasium, and also women's education in our country. In addition, the electronic collections of the library contain separate rare editions dedicated to pedagogy, namely: "Introduction to Pedagogy" (1855), "Essays on the History of Pedagogical Doctrines" (1911), "Russian Pedagogy in Its Most Important Representatives" (1915) and others.