The Presidential Library spotlights Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum

On October 19 (31 according to the new style), 1811 the Imperial Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum was solemnly opened in Tsarskoye Selo. It was founded for the noble "youth, especially intended for important parts of the state service". The opening was attended by the emperor with his family, senior dignitaries and cultural figures.

According to the former lyceum student Dmitry Kobeko in his work The Imperial Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum (1911), “the closest reason for the establishment of the Lyceum was, apparently, the intention of Emperor Alexander I to create an educational institution where they could, together with several peers, take a course sciences juvenile grand dukes, brothers of the Emperor”.

The charter of the Lyceum and the training program were developed by the State Secretary of the Russian Empire Mikhail Speransky with the participation of the Minister of Public Education Alexei Razumovsky. The imperial decree on the creation of the Lyceum was issued in August 1810. The Decree on the Lyceum (1810), signed by Alexander I, available on the Presidential Library’s portal, states that “The Lyceum in its rights and advantages is completely equal to the Universities of Russia”.

The Lyceum was located in the wing of the Catherine Palace, rebuilt in 1811 by the architect Vasily Stasov in accordance with the needs of the educational institution. Household services were placed on the first floor, on the second floor there was an infirmary, an office, a conference room and a dining room for pupils, on the third floor there was an excellent library, recreation, classes for independent work. The pupils lived in dormitories on the fourth floor.

Education at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum was designed for 6 years and consisted of two three-year courses - initial and final. The first three years the disciplines of the senior classes of the gymnasium were studied, the next three - the main disciplines of the three faculties of the university: verbal, moral-political and physical-mathematical.

Particular attention was paid to teachers. Among the teachers there were representatives of not only Russian, but also foreign professors.

The most important place among the taught disciplines was given to the study of Russian history. Art classes, which included the literary work of lyceum students, belonged to the category of recreation. But the training at the Lyceum of Alexander Pushkin and his closest associates - Anton Delvig, Wilhelm Kuchelbecker, Ivan Pushchin and others brought "belles-lettres" to the fore.

A graduate, and later professor of Russian language and literature at the Imperial Alexander Lyceum, Yakov Grot, in his work Pushkin, His Lyceum Comrades and Mentors (1887), wrote that the combination of so many young talents in a new educational institution was an unusual phenomenon. The lads at the age of 14–15 were already familiar with the editors of magazines, who willingly accepted and published their works. But the main initiator and engine of literary life at the school was still Pushkin, and without him this direction would not have received such amazing development there. It can be said that, having entered the lyceum at the age of twelve, he was already a writer by his connections and occupations.

The lyceum became an important theme in Pushkin's lyrics and went through all his work. This is the only example in the history of literature when the years of upbringing were so reflected in the work of the poet. Pushkin remembers the Lyceum with love in his letters, poems, lyrics, not to mention the works dedicated to the celebration of the Lyceum anniversary. The collection of the Presidential Library Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837), the video Foreign words in the poetry of Alexander Pushkin (2021) are also available on the portal.

The first lyceum students declared the opening day of the Lyceum their holiday and decided to celebrate it annually. The holiday of October 19 survived both the last of the first lyceum students, and the Lyceum itself, it entered the life of future generations and today is celebrated as the All-Russian Day of the Lyceum.

Many graduates of the Lyceum glorified Russia in various areas of state and public life, science and culture. But the most important thing that the pupils took out of the lyceum years is the conviction that they should live and work “For the Common Benefit”. It was these words that the lyceum students of the first graduation chose as their motto and fully implemented it.