The Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy (1687) was the first higher educational institution in Russia. It was created in Moscow and lasted until 1814. Let us further consider what the Greek-Slavic-Latin Academy represented.
History
The initiators were the poet, teacher and enlightener Simeon Polotsky and Sylvester Medvedev - his student. 2 years before his death, the first wrote "Academic privilege" - a memorandum of association. It put forward, in fact, the idea of creating a university, the content of training and the future rights of the institution were determined. The opening of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, according to S. Polotsky, would make it possible to prepare educated people for church and public service.
Training plans
The Academy, according to Polotsky, was supposed to teach Polish, Latin, Greek and Slavic languages, the "seven free arts" (pitika with rhetoric, grammar, astronomy, music, geometry, dialectics, philosophy) and theology. Students and educators could only be subject to jurisdiction of the rector - the "supreme guardian", as well as the patriarch, but not the traditional courts. Thus, a kind of university autonomy was formed. Education was supposed to be free. At the same time, a scholarship was to be awarded to students, and a pension for older teachers.
Polotsky explained what the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy is. He pointed out that the institution would have to release faithful clergy, teach students to observe the purity of religious ideas. The functions of the Academy, among other things, Polotsky included censorship, the right to judge apostates. The institution's tasks should also include monitoring the activities of other educational institutions and home teachers. The main focus of the academy was to devote to the Greek language, in which the majority of liturgical books were written.
Establishment of the GLS
The Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy was created on the basis of the Epiphany and Printing Schools. The first teachers were the brothers Sofrony and Joachim Likhudy. With a letter of recommendation from the eastern patriarchs, they specially arrived in Moscow. The brothers had encyclopedic knowledge, were doctors of the Cotton Academy. Sofroniy and Joachim did their best to create the highest spiritual educational institution in Russia. It should be noted that only 2 years after the death of Polotsky, his “Privilege” (the constituent document of the academy) was adopted by the then ruling Fedor Alekseevich. Three years later, the educational institution received a blessing from His Holiness the Patriarch.
First lessons
They began in 1685. The first time they took place in the Epiphany monastery. The Likhud brothers first taught only the Greek language. Subsequently, they expanded the educational program and introduced rhetoric into it. At the end of 1866, the construction of a separate building began on the territory of the Monastery of All-Merciful Savior, which is known as Zaikonospassky (at the location - behind the icon row). The Likhud brothers moved to a new building in the year 1687. The Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy united the first three classes: upper, middle and lower. At first, 104 people were trained in them. A year later, there were 163 students, and in 1689, 182.
Training
The course began with a preparatory class. It was called the Russian school. At the end of the students translated. In the next class - the School of Greek Book Writing - they studied Latin, Slavic and Greek letters. After that, students began studying other subjects. In the last year they taught theology, dialectics, rhetoric, physics. The Likhud brothers independently wrote all the textbooks on subjects. For the model they took the educational books of European universities. The textbooks included the works of Democritus, Aristotle, Campanella. Present were examples of theological texts and literary works.
Student composition
The Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy accepted the offspring of various families. So, the son of a bonded, merchant, groom could be a neighbor of a child of a church servant of high rank or even a noble prince. This institution was fundamentally different from the others that accepted students on an estate basis. In addition to the Russians, the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, established in the year 1687, taught Belarusians, Ukrainians, immigrants from the Commonwealth, Moldavians, Lithuanians, baptized Tatars, Georgians. The student list was even Macedonian. The older students taught at the younger ones, thus providing assistance to the main educators. Despite the fact that the reception of the class principle was not respected, students received various scholarships.
History of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy in the XVIII century
The beginning of the century was marked by the state transformations of Peter. They touched on reform and the educational system. A completely new stage has begun in the life of the academy. The number of students increased to 600 people, teachers increased, and the library was expanded. In 1701, the institution was given the status of a state academy. Peter began to invite teachers from Lviv and Kiev, as they had an idea about the system of Western European education. Latin became the main language. The duration of training was set at 12-15 years. The nature of the educational process itself began to approach the Western European system. Now the academy graduated not only theologians, but also physicians, translators, and civil servants.
Further changes
Many students did not finish their studies in the upper class, and after the first year of study left for medical, engineering, and mathematical schools, as they knew Latin. Children from poor families began to be sent abroad. There they studied the Persian, Turkish, Arabic languages, as well as the "literary sciences", which were studied at that time in France. They started talking about the academy in Europe. With the permission of the Synod, adopted in 1721, foreigners were accepted into the institution. They were equated with Russian students.
In 1708 and 1710 2 decrees were issued. The documents instructed the children of the clergy to study in "Latin and Greek schools", and only after they graduated they could count on a spiritual order. However, young people were not enthusiastic about education. In this regard, from 1721, the Synod began to demand from priests a receipt that their children would graduate from an educational institution.
The academy was not popular among noblemen, since there were quite a lot of students from poor families. In 1729, half of the students were children of soldiers. Many students - people from ordinary people had to earn extra money in order to provide themselves with food. The same fate befell the great MV Lomonosov. For five years he lived almost starving, but did not give up his studies. After graduation, the children of the peasants returned to their landowners. Since 1277, commoners were no longer accepted into the academy.
Interesting Facts
Operating since the year 1687, the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy had the most extensive collection of books in Russia. The state library was transferred to the educational institution as a whole and for eternal use. One of the first theaters in Russia was established at the academy. It was based on the school circle, in which Simeon of Polotsk put the works "On Nebuchadnezzar", "On the Prodigal Son."
The first official performance of the Academy Theater took place in 1701, in November. The troupe staged a drama in the gospel parable of Lazarus and the richer. Since this year, performances have become traditional in the life of secular society. In 1705, Feofan Prokopovich directed the tragicomedy “Vladimir”. Two years earlier, a performance was held, which is considered one of the brightest in the history of the theater of the Academy. The production was a triumphal action and was dedicated to the capture of Peterburg by Peter. In the play, the war was depicted as the struggle of the "Russian Mars" with evil forces. The latter were embodied in the images of the "Taurian moon" and the "Swedish lion". The production ended with the triumphal entry of "Russian Mars".
Buildings in Moscow
The buildings where the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy created in the year 1687 was located received the status of an architectural monument of federal significance. In the process of rebuilding the ground crossing, the buildings received a number of damage. In 2009, the Moscow Heritage Committee advocated transferring the facilities of the academy to the monastic function that existed earlier. This was stated by the chairman of the body - Valery Shevchuk.