How geniuses were brought up in the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum: Discipline, daily routine and everyday life of the Pushkin edition

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The goal of raising and educating a new Pushkin is not in front of anyone - that would be too presumptuous, and simply impossible. But creating conditions that will help a child develop his genius in whatever may be is the dream, probably, of all parents and conscientious teachers. The first graduation of the Lyceum gave the country not at all first-class officials, as it was intended, but there were plenty of geniuses among the boys who came out of its walls. How was this accomplished?

Admission to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum

The Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum is primarily regarded as an educational institution where the great Russian poet Pushkin studied - there is nothing to be done, this status is assigned to him by history itself. But nevertheless, the fact that twelve-year-old Alexander became a Lyceum student was rather a coincidence, but the fact that a Lyceum graduate founded Russian literature itself cannot be easily attributed to coincidences. Be that as it may, it was in 1810 that the decision of Emperor Alexander I took place to establish a new, progressive educational institution where the Russian elite would be educated - future statesmen who would change the country, reform the government, and instill the ideas of the Enlightenment in various social institutions.

In August 1810, a royal decree was issued, and a year later entrance examinations were held. Not everyone was accepted: first of all, the honor of becoming a lyceum student belonged only to boys, who, moreover, were of noble origin. Before taking the exam, it was necessary to get a recommendation from influential persons, to go through an interview with the Minister of Education Razumovsky himself. Initially, it was planned that the two younger brothers of the emperor - Nikolai and Mikhail - would study at the Lyceum - therefore, in particular, the wing of the Catherine Palace, rebuilt by the architect V. P. Stasov. Pupils grew up and studied in close proximity to the highest officials of the state - despite the fact that plans for the grand dukes have changed.

Simultaneously with the preparations for the opening of the Lyceum, the Pushkin family made plans for the education of Alexander. The boy was twelve years old, and it was time to move from home schooling to a more thorough education. The most suitable educational institution for his father, Sergei Lvovich, seemed to be a Jesuit boarding school in St. Petersburg, but then news came of the opening of a new school designed to train the political elite, and this option seemed to Pushkin Sr. much more tempting. By the way, education at the Lyceum was free. It was only necessary to enlist patronage, and such was found - through Pushkin's uncle Vasily Lvovich, as well as a friend of the family, Alexander Ivanovich Turgenev, an influential St. Petersburg official. The first director, Vasily Fedorovich Malinovsky, also liked the lyceum candidate.

The exam meant testing the applicant's knowledge in all major disciplines, but there were no high requirements for admission. Pushkin received the best mark in Russian grammar, "good" - in French, with regard to history and geography it was marked - "has information."The main achievements in teaching he and twenty-nine other lyceum students were to accomplish in the next six years.

How did lyceum students study

The training program was developed by Mikhail Speransky, an outstanding reformer, who fell into disgrace a short time after the creation of the Lyceum. The emphasis was placed on the disciplines of the humanitarian and legal. Among the subjects were the Law of God, ethics, logic, jurisprudence, a separate direction was rhetoric and literature - Russian, French, Latin and German. Exact sciences were represented by mathematical principles, physics and cosmography, statistics. Much attention was paid to gymnastics and the fine arts - lyceum students were daily engaged in calligraphy, drawing, learning to dance and fencing, from sports disciplines taught horse riding and swimming.

The years spent at the Lyceum were supposed to form an independent, versatile, creative personality from each student, who found his calling and knew how to strive for heights. Great attention was paid to the organization of the life of the pupils. The daily schedule was drawn up in such a way that practically did not leave the possibility of inactivity, the lyceum students were constantly busy. In total, they devoted 7-8 hours a day to lessons, alternating between classes and rest, and classroom instruction with outdoor games and walks.

The rise was at six in the morning, the pupils went to morning prayer, and from 7 to 9 o'clock the first lessons took place. After that there was tea, followed by a walk. At ten we returned to the classroom - until noon. From twelve to one in the afternoon, the lyceum students again went for a walk, returning by lunchtime. The afternoon was devoted to calligraphy and drawing classes - until three o'clock, then until five in the evening they were engaged in other lessons. Then they went for tea and again for a walk - until six o'clock, and in the evening before dinner they devoted to repeating lessons, visiting the library. Dinner started at 8.30 pm, followed by free time, and at 10 pm the disciples went to evening prayer and sleep.

Almost all the time, the Lyceum students were in society and under supervision - therefore, during their studies at the Lyceum, everyone developed excellent social skills. The teachers addressed the boys with "you", adding the word "master" to the surname - which contributed to the establishment of respectful relations with a certain distance between the pupil and the teacher. The staff of teachers included mainly young specialists who were distinguished by a creative approach to the profession, many of them had an extremely strong influence on future graduates.

In the Lyceum, they taught not to memorize truths, but to look for their own, to think independently, freely and independently. Quite progressive for that time was the complete rejection of corporal punishment. Pupils were ranked according to their academic success: the place in the classroom and in the cafeteria depended on this grade - the best were allowed to sit closer to the teachers.

Why are the results of the lyceum experiment not being used at the present time?

The result of such an experiment is generally known to everyone - the one thing that the Lyceum gave to the world of Pushkin fully justifies the idea of its creation. But besides the poet, the first issue also included other prominent personalities: diplomat Alexander Gorchakov, Fedor Matyushkin, polar explorer and admiral, Mikhail Yakovlev, singer and composer, Anton Delvig, poet and publisher. A rather small percentage of the pupils in comparison with the initial idea devoted themselves to the public service. Paradoxically, the Lyceum rather gave rise to opposition - two of the graduates of 1817 came to Senate Square, many were in different secret societies.

This, perhaps, was one of the reasons that the experience of the Lyceum did not take root at the national level either in the past or now. Another defining moment was the mandatory separation of students from the family. In the very first month of training, it was announced that trips home were not allowed, and the pupils would spend all six years within the walls of the Lyceum. According to the recollections of his first graduates, after these words, sobs were heard. During the holidays, which fell only in July, they did not go home. Family visits were allowed, but were rather limited. The isolation from the outside world was somewhat disturbed by the events of 1812 - when lyceum students, teenage boys, with delight and reverence communicated with the officers who came to the emperor's residence before going to war.

Throughout their lives, lyceum students recalled their studies in Tsarskoe Selo as the best years of their lives - this is clear both from their correspondence and from numerous poems dedicated to the Lyceum. All the students tried their hand at the poetic craft during their studies - during the publication of their own newspapers, writing epigrams for friends and enemies.

October 19 eventually became the main holiday of the first lyceum students - if at first they perceived this date rather formally, then after the events that preceded and followed the December uprising, all these young people truly felt belonging to a single brotherhood, a family that they could not destroy no years, no distance.

As befits any close community, each of the lyceum students was given a nickname: Myasoedov was called Myasozhorov, Danzas - Bear, Kornilov - Monsieur, for his accidental slip of the tongue during the first gala dinner at the Lyceum, when the Empress's question whether he liked the soup, he mechanically answered "Yes, monsieur." Pushkin was "Frenchman" and "Egoza", his friend and neighbor Pushchin - "Big Jeannot".

Lyceum years gave each of the pupils an incomparable experience of socialization, enlightened growing up, a combination of strict discipline and inner freedom. Despite this, few whose fate could be called happy: who died before reaching adulthood, who fell into disgrace, who never found family happiness. But many have become outstanding personalities - their names are not forgotten even now, and not at all because of their proximity to the Pushkin circle. In the modern world, it is recognized as important and useful to instill in a child skills calligraphy and calligraphy - those activities that were given close attention within the walls of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.