"To heal the new generation from a blind, rash addiction to the superficial and foreign, spreading in young minds a cordial respect for the homeland and the full conviction that only the adaptation of general, world enlightenment to our national life, to our national spirit can bring true fruits to everyone." …
S. S. Uvarov
The future president of the Academy of Sciences was born on September 5, 1786 in the city of St. Petersburg in the family of a Lieutenant Colonel of the Horse Guards and a representative of an ancient noble family, Semyon Uvarov. Semyon Fyodorovich was known as a cheerful and courageous man, famous for his squatting dance and playing the bandura (a Ukrainian musical instrument), which is why he had the nickname "Senka the Bandurist". The omnipotent prince Grigory Potemkin brought the witty man closer to himself, making him an adjutant and marrying Daria Ivanovna Golovina, a bride, by the way, very enviable. Empress Catherine the Great herself became the godmother of their son Sergei.
At the age of two, the boy was left without a father, and his mother, Daria Ivanovna, and then (after her death) aunt Natalya Ivanovna Kurakina, nee Golovina, was engaged in his upbringing. Uvarov received his primary education in the house of the famous statesman, Prince Alexei Kurakin. A French abbot named Manguin studied with him. Escaping from the revolution at home, he retained nostalgic memories of the "golden" age of the French aristocracy. Sergey turned out to be incredibly gifted, he was easily given both study and creativity. From childhood, he was fluent in French, knew German perfectly, was well versed in both languages, and later studied Latin, Ancient Greek and English. To the delight of his relatives, the young man composed wonderful poems in different languages and skillfully recited them. The admiration of adults pretty soon taught Uvarov to public success - in the future, by the way, he will do everything so that this success does not leave him.
Sergei was in his fifteenth year (1801), when he began to serve in the Collegium of Foreign Affairs in a small age. In 1806 he was sent to Vienna to the Russian embassy, and in 1809 he was appointed secretary of the embassy in Paris. Over the years, Uvarov wrote his first essays and met many famous people of that era, in particular, the poet Johann Goethe, the Prussian statesman Heinrich Stein, the writer Germaine de Stael, the politician Pozzo di Borgo, the famous scientists Alexander and Wilhelm Humboldt … prominent representatives of the literary and scientific world have developed a refined aesthetic taste, breadth of intellectual interests and a desire for continuous self-education of a young man. Also during these years, his love for ancient antiquities, which the young man began to collect, first manifested itself. His political convictions were also formed - a supporter of enlightened absolutism.
In the capital of France in 1810, the first major work of Sergei Semyonovich was published under the title "Project of the Asian Academy", which was later translated into Russian by Vasily Zhukovsky. In this work, the perspicacious Uvarov put forward the idea of forming in Russia a special scientific institution dealing with the study of Eastern countries. The young diplomat rightly believed that the spread of the languages of the East would inevitably lead "to the spread of reasonable concepts about Asia in its relation to Russia." He wrote: "Here is a huge field, not yet illuminated by the rays of reason, the field of inviolable glory - the key of the new national policy."
In the same 1810 Sergei Semyonovich returned to his homeland. The promising young man was elected an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, in addition, he was a member of the Paris Academy of Literature and Inscriptions, Copenhagen Royal Society of Sciences, Göttingen Society of Sciences, Madrid Royal Historical Society and Naples Royal Society. One high society lady, with a certain amount of causticity, characterized him as follows: “A darling of aristocratic gatherings and a handsome man. Cheerful, dexterous, witty, with a touch of pride, a veil. " It should be noted that within the boundaries of someone's group ethics, Uvarov was cramped, therefore, for all parties, he, by and large, remained a stranger. In addition, being a man of versatile and broad interests, Sergei Semyonovich did not limit himself to just his official activities, taking an active part in the literary and social life of St. Petersburg. At this time, Uvarov "with an almost Gettengen soul" entered the circle of Alexei Olenin - an archaeologist, writer, artist, and also director of the Public Library. Aleksei Nikolaevich hosted masters of pen of different generations - Krylov, Shakhovskaya, Ozerov, Kapnist … For Sergei Semyonovich, the Olenins' hospitable estate became an excellent school. In addition, Olenin was one of the founders of Russian archeology. Uvarov himself wrote: "A zealous defender of antiquities, he gradually studied all the subjects included in this circle, from the Tmutarakan stone to the Krechensky jewelry and from Lavrentievsky Nestor to the review of Moscow monuments."
In 1811, Sergei Semyonovich was married to Ekaterina Alekseevna Razumovskaya, the daughter of Count Aleksey Razumovsky, the former minister of public education. According to biographers, he was chosen as a young girl, as "strikingly distinguished by a strict outlook on life, knowledge and intelligence from the surrounding St. Petersburg golden youth." After the wedding, the twenty-five-year-old young man, who made useful acquaintances, received his first major appointment, becoming the trustee of the capital's educational district, which he headed for ten years. In this position in 1818, Uvarov - a brilliant organizer - transformed the Main Pedagogical Institute into St. Petersburg University, establishing there the teaching of oriental languages, reforming the curricula of district schools and gymnasiums. Sergei Semyonovich identified history as the main instrument of enlightenment: “In the education of the people, teaching History is a matter of the state … It forms citizens who know how to honor their rights and duties, warriors, for the Fatherland of the dying, judges, the price of justice, those who know, experienced nobles, Kings solid and kind … All great truths are contained in History. She is the supreme court, and woe not to follow her instructions!"
Portrait of Sergei Uvarov by Orest Kiprensky (1815)
In 1815 Uvarov became one of the organizers of the mischievous literary society of fighters for new literature called "Arzamas". After the humorous "Vision in Arzamas" by Dmitry Bludov, Sergei Semyonovich notified his fellow writers about the meeting. The evening took place, and at it Uvarov, with his characteristic incomparable artistry, proposed to embody Bludov's dreams, founding the circle of "Arzamas obscure writers". Vasily Zhukovsky, an inexhaustible authoritative writer of the younger generation, was elected secretary of the society. The meetings, as a rule, took place in the house of Sergei Semyonovich. Zhukovsky, by the way, became a good friend of Uvarov for many decades, and they often jointly solved important educational problems. In the future, Arzamas included: Konstantin Batyushkov, Pyotr Vyazemsky, Denis Davydov, Vasily Pushkin and his young nephew Alexander. The society was dominated by the atmosphere of a literary game, during which the best pens of the country, exercising their wit, fought against the literary Old Believers. Each member of the circle was assigned a nickname taken from the works of Zhukovsky. Vasily Andreevich himself was nicknamed "Svetlana", Alexander Pushkin was nicknamed "Cricket", and Uvarov was called "Old woman", respectingly emphasizing that the young man was a veteran of the struggle for the reform of his native language. Indeed, by that time Sergei Semyonovich already had a number of merits before Russian literature - in a two-year dispute with Vasily Kapnist, he proposed the "golden rule" about the unity of thought and form in creativity, which became an axiom for Russian writers of the Pushkin century.
It should be noted that two years after the founding of Arzamas, Uvarov lost interest in the protracted literary game. Dissatisfied with the constant attacks on the participants in the "Conversation of lovers of the Russian word" (among whom, by the way, there were such "seasoned" writers as Krylov, Derzhavin, Griboyedov and Katenin) and the unfolding literary war, during which the enlightenment as a whole could be a loser, Uvarov left the company. For several years, under the guidance of the famous philologist Grefe, he studied ancient languages in depth. In 1816, for his French-language work "An Experience on the Eleusinian Mysteries," he was elected an honorary member of the Institute of France, in which there were less than ten foreign honorary members at that time. And at the beginning of 1818, the thirty-two-year-old Sergei Semyonovich was appointed president of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. His friendship and family ties, as well as his reputation as a thoughtful researcher, played a role here. By the way, he remained in this post until the end of his days.
After taking office, Uvarov, "not finding traces of sound economic management," focused all his attention on reorganizing the structure of the Academy. In 1818, the new president established the Asian Museum, which became the first Russian research center in the field of oriental studies. In the thirties, the Ethnographic, Mineralogical, Botanical, Zoological and some other museums were organized. The Academy began to conduct more scientific expeditions. In 1839 the Pulkovo Observatory was created - a recognized achievement of Russian science. Sergei Semyonovich also strove to activate the scientific life of the body entrusted to him, for which he began to effectively use mail. From now on, the works of academicians were sent to various states of Europe and to all corners of Russia.
In the summer of 1821, Uvarov resigned from the post of trustee of the educational district and transferred to the Ministry of Finance. There he first headed the department of domestic trade and manufactures, and then took the place of director of the State Commercial and Loan Banks. In 1824 he was awarded the rank of privy councilor, and in 1826 - the rank of senator.
With the arrival of Nicholas I, Uvarov's position began to change. At the end of 1826, the centenary of the Academy of Sciences was celebrated on a grand scale. Sergei Semyonovich took advantage of this celebration with great benefit for himself and for science. He renovated old buildings and built new ones. The emperor and his brothers were elected to the honorary academicians, which contributed to the growth of the prestige of the country's main scientific institution, as well as the growth of appropriations. The consent to accept the title of members of the academy as crowned heads ensured the appropriate attitude towards it among the nobility, making science as honorable as public service and military affairs. In addition, the Academy held elections for new members, among which were mathematicians Chebyshev and Ostrogradsky, historians Pogodin and Ustryalov, philologists Shevyrev and Vostokov, physicist Lenz, astronomer Struve, as well as prominent foreign scientists: Fourier, Ampere, Lussac, de Sacy, Schlegel, Gauss, Goethe, Herschel and some others.
In the first years of the reign of Nicholas I, Uvarov took part in the activities of the committee for the organization of educational institutions. In 1828, together with Dashkov, he proposed a new censorship charter, softer than Shishkov's "cast iron" one. And in the spring of 1832, Sergei Semyonovich was appointed assistant minister of public education, Prince Karl Lieven, a military comrade-in-arms of Suvorov. In March 1833 - upon the resignation of the prince - Uvarov was appointed manager of the Ministry of Public Education, and a year later he was approved by the Minister of Public Education. In a responsible post, Sergei Semyonovich held out longer than all his successors and predecessors - sixteen years.
Sergei Semyonovich made the formula “Orthodoxy. Autocracy. Nationality ", having remade, according to some historians, the old motto of the military" For Faith, Tsar and Fatherland. " To "Orthodoxy", which stands in the first place in the triad, Uvarov did not come right away. He, of course, was a baptized person, but Orthodoxy did not become the basis of his worldview at all in his youth. Raised as a Catholic abbot, Sergei Semyonovich went through all the temptations that Europe could show to an inquisitive nobleman from Russia. Passion for Freemasonry, Eurocentrism, disdain for Russian antiquity - all this Uvarov learned and overcame. In the 1830s he said: “The Russian, deeply and sincerely attached to the church of his fathers, looks at it as a guarantee of family and social happiness. Without love for the faith of their ancestors, both the people and the private person will perish. Weakening faith in them means ripping out the heart and depriving it of blood …”.
The second step in Uvarov's triad was "Autocracy". Investigating the shortcomings of European monarchies and the republican system, studying the phenomenon of Russian autocracy in Moscow and post-Petrine history, the Minister of Public Education became one of the most knowledgeable specialists in this field. He said: “Autocracy is an indispensable condition for the political existence of the country. The Russian colossus focuses on him as the cornerstone of its greatness."
Uvarov defined the nationality as the third national principle. After analyzing the ebullient history of Europe in the 17th-18th centuries, Sergei Semyonovich perfectly understood the need to prevent possible interethnic conflicts in the Russian Empire. His program was aimed at uniting the various nationalities of Russia on the basis of autocracy and Orthodoxy, but at the same time preserving serfdom. By the way, this was the most controversial position - serfdom already in those years did not correspond to the principles of the majority of educated people and this fact was a shadow on the perception of the minister's triad. Nevertheless, the Uvarov trinity became the core of the state ideology - an ideology that had been effective for two decades and was shaken only in the smoke of the Crimean War. Uvarov himself, speaking of his plans, noted: “We live in the midst of political storms and unrest. Nations are being renewed, changing their way of life, moving forward. Nobody can prescribe laws here. But Russia is still young and should not taste these bloody worries. It is necessary to prolong her youth and educate her. This is my political system. If I succeed in pushing the country fifty years away from what the theory promises, then I will fulfill my duty and leave peacefully."
In January 1834, Sergei Semyonovich founded the "Journal of the Ministry of National Education", which was published until the end of 1917. According to the memoirs of the famous editor, historian and journalist Starchevsky, Uvarov himself developed a plan for the journal, proposed headings, set the amount of royalties for work and sent an invitation to "employees of professors universities, teachers of gymnasiums and other educational institutions, as well as all the writing fraternity who were in the service of the same ministry. " Of course, the circulation of the Journal was significantly inferior to Sovremennik or Otechestvennye zapiski, but among the departmental publications it was the most interesting. The journal was understood by the Minister of Public Education as the headquarters of his ideological and educational reform and was sent out not only throughout Russia, but throughout Europe. In addition, Uvarov constantly printed in it reports on the work of his ministry - he loved that his activities were indisputable, visible, confirmed by facts. It should also be noted that since its inception, the Journal has promoted Russian-language science, and the minister himself, who was, by the way, a French-speaking author, did everything to ensure that his successors published his scientific works only in their native language. Largely due to this, in the educated environment in the second half of the nineteenth century, the Russian language, replacing French, became the main language in written speech.
The first major act carried out by Uvarov the minister was the "Regulations on educational districts", published in the middle of the summer of 1835. From now on, all questions of the management of educational institutions were transferred to the hands of the trustees. Under the trustee, a council was formed, including his assistant, inspector of state schools, rector of the university, directors of gymnasiums. The council was an advisory body and discussed educational issues only at the initiative of the trustee. A month after the publication of the Statute, Nicholas I ratified the "General Charter of the Imperial Universities", which indicated the start of the university reform. The transformations, according to Sergei Semyonovich himself, pursued two goals: “First, to raise the teaching of the university to a rational form and to erect a reasonable barrier to early entry into the service of still immature youth. Second, to attract upper-class children to universities, putting an end to the domestic perverse education of foreigners. Reduce the dominance of the passion for foreign education, outwardly brilliant, but alien to true learning and solidity. To instill in the university youth the desire for a national, independent education. " However, it is worth noting that the new Statute significantly limited the university autonomy. Although the board was still in charge of economic and administrative affairs, the trustee became the chairman. He also supervised the discipline in the educational institution. At the same time, the universities were left with the right to have their own censorship and freely subscribe from abroad newspapers, magazines, books and textbooks.
According to Uvarov, one of the key tasks of his ministry was to solve the problem of "adapting the main principles of the general sciences to the technical needs of the agricultural, factory and handicraft industry." To resolve the issue, teaching programs at universities were revised, courses in agronomy, machine building, descriptive geometry and practical mechanics were introduced, lectures on forestry, commercial accounting and agriculture, and departments of agronomic sciences were opened. For all faculties, compulsory subjects have become applicable law, church history and theology. Departments of Slavic and Russian history were opened at the philological faculties - "Russian professors were obliged to read Russian science, created on Russian principles."
The next series of measures that supplemented the Charter of 1835 related to the social composition of students, their scientific and educational training. According to the "Test Rules" issued in 1837, young men who had reached the age of sixteen could enter the university. Also, the Rules determined the required knowledge base, without which studying at the university would be “a waste of time”. It was forbidden to admit to the university applicants who had graduated from the gymnasium with unsatisfactory grades. In addition, in order to improve the preparation of students, Uvarov introduced the practice of giving lectures by the students themselves in his presence. The meetings of students with famous writers, which Sergei Semyonovich organized for them, were of great educational and cognitive importance. For example, the writer Goncharov recalled how delighted the students were when Alexander Pushkin arrived at Moscow University in 1832.
In the spring of 1844, a new Regulation on the production of academic degrees, prepared by Uvarov, was adopted, which increased the requirements for the applicant. Quite controversial were Uvarov's measures to attract noble youth to universities, along with restricting access to higher education for persons of other classes. In December 1844, Sergei Semyonovich presented a note to the emperor, which contained a proposal to prohibit the admission of taxable people to teaching positions, as well as to increase tuition fees. Uvarov himself has repeatedly said that “the different needs of different estates and different states inevitably lead to a proper distinction between the subjects of study. Public education can only be called correctly positioned when it opens up ways for everyone to find such an upbringing, what kind of life it corresponds to, as well as the future vocation in society. According to the minister, together with a general class school, “special” class schools were needed for the nobility - noble institutions and noble boarding schools, which were to become “preparatory schools for entering the university”. The programs and curricula of these institutions contained subjects that supplemented the basic gymnasium course and were necessary for the education of a nobleman: horse riding, fencing, dancing, swimming, music and rowing. In 1842, there were forty-two noble boarding schools and five noble institutions that prepared pupils for diplomatic and state service.
Among other things, Uvarov believed that the state school was obliged to suppress home education, as well as all private educational institutions. He reported: “The ministry cannot overlook the great harm of doctrine left to the arbitrariness of people who do not possess the necessary moral properties and knowledge, who are unable and unwilling to act in the spirit of the government. This branch of public education should be included in the general system, extend its supervision to it, bring it into conformity and link it with public education, giving preponderance to domestic education. " On the initiative of Sergei Semyonovich, a decree was issued in 1833 containing measures against the multiplication of private educational institutions and boarding schools. Their opening in Moscow and St. Petersburg was suspended, and in other cities it was allowed only with the permission of the minister. Only a Russian citizen could now be a teacher and owner of private institutions. And in July 1834, the "Regulation on Home Teachers and Tutors" appeared, according to which everyone who entered private homes for raising children was considered a civil servant and had to pass special exams, receiving the title of home tutor or teacher.
Among other things, in the mid-1830s, the plans of all educational institutions in the Kiev, Belarusian, Dorpat and Warsaw educational districts were revised, in which the ancient languages were replaced by Russian. In 1836, Sergei Semyonovich prepared and Nicholas I approved the charter of the Academy of Sciences, which determined its activities for eighty (!) Years. And in 1841 the Russian Academy of Sciences was joined to the Academy of Sciences, which formed the second department for the study of literature and the Russian language (the first department specialized in physical and mathematical sciences, and the third in historical and philological).
Censorship has also become one of the main areas of activity of the Ministry of Public Education. Uvarov believed that it was important to suppress the "attempts" by journalists on key "subjects of government", to avoid getting into the press of dangerous political concepts brought from Europe, to follow the discourse on "literary subjects." Sergei Semyonovich has achieved the closure of the magazines "Teleskop" Nadezhdin and "Moscow Telegraph" Polevov. In 1836, all new periodicals were temporarily banned, book trade and publishing business were limited, and the release of cheap publications for the people was reduced. By the way, this is where the enmity of the Minister of Public Education with the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin originates. It is worth noting that Sergei Semyonovich and Alexander Sergeevich had a common "alma mater" - the "Arzamas" society, and in December 1832 Uvarov, as president of the Academy, helped to obtain the academic title of the poet. A year earlier, Uvarov had translated into French Pushkin's work "Slanderers of Russia", with admiration noting "beautiful, truly folk poetry." Their relations began to deteriorate at the end of 1834. It was from that moment that the minister began to dislike the procedure for censoring Pushkin's works, once proposed by Nikolai. In 1834, with his power, he "shredded" the poem "Angelo", and then began to fight the "History of the Pugachev revolt". In 1835 the poet noted in his diary: “Uvarov is a big scoundrel. She screams about my book as an ugly composition and persecutes it with her censorship committee. " After that, epigrams were used, as well as evil allegorical verses like "To the recovery of Lucullus", which convinced Sergei Semyonovich that Alexander Sergeevich was his enemy. The mutual personal enmity of the two gentlemen, who did not hesitate in the means to attack each other, continued until the poet's death in 1837.
In July 1846, for the immaculate and long-term (since 1801!) Service, Uvarov, who had never been deprived of royal favor and awards, was elevated to the rank of count. His motto placed on the coat of arms was the already well-known words: "Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality!"
The European events of 1848 became a milestone in the fate of Sergei Semyonovich. He, who embodied the reaction of Russia to the previous wave of revolutions, this time turned out to be out of work. The emperor treated the French events with protective radicalism. Uvarov, on the other hand, considered overly strict measures harmful and even dangerous for public opinion. He understood perfectly well that a policy without compromise is very expensive for the state. The last year of work as minister became extremely difficult for Sergei Semyonovich. Nicholas I was dissatisfied with the work of censorship and the content of literary magazines. Baron Modest Korf, the former secretary of state and aiming at Uvarov's place, started an intrigue against him. He wrote a lengthy note blaming censorship for allegedly allowing inappropriate magazine publications to pass. Contemporaries quite reasonably perceived Korf's initiative as a denunciation of Uvarov, but nevertheless, trying to crush the embryos of revolutionary sentiments in the country, Nicholas I organized in February 1848 a special committee that received the right to look after both censorship and the press, bypassing the Ministry of Public Education and who established "censorship terror" in Russia. The influential politician Prince Menshikov was appointed chairman of this Committee. The Committee also includes Korf, the former Minister of the Interior Stroganov and Buturlin. Prince Menshikov wrote in his diary: "I received a message from Count Orlov that it is extremely unpleasant for me to be the chairman of the committee on the sins of censorship in passing unauthorized articles in journals, that is, the kind of investigation over Count Uvarov." Soon Menshikov - a restless soul - visited Sergei Semyonovich with conciliatory speeches, assuring him that he was "not an inquisitor." Subsequently, both Menshikov and Aleksey Orlov, by hook or by crook, tried to get rid of the leadership of the Committee, and a month later the new composition of the "inquisitorial assembly" was headed by Buturlin. The Committee existed until 1856, but its activity was especially relevant precisely in the last months of Uvarov's work, according to Korf, "who had lost the trust of the sovereign."
In his memoirs, the literary historian Alexander Nikitenko assessed the end of 1848 as a “crusade against knowledge”: “Science is growing pale and hiding. Ignorance is being built into the system … At the university there is discouragement and fear. Sergei Semyonovich, having lost his authority, turned into an executor of decisions that contradicted the system he had created. Many key issues, for example the reduction of students at universities, were not even coordinated with him. All these events had an extremely painful effect on Uvarov's condition. In July 1849 he was widowed, and in mid-September he himself was struck by a stroke. Having recovered, Sergei Semyonovich resigned, and in October his petition was granted. Uvarov resigned from the post of minister, remaining in the rank of President of the Academy of Sciences and a member of the State Council. At parting in December 1850, Nicholas I honored Sergei Semyonovich with the highest order - St. Andrew the First-Called. From now on, the count had all the regalia of his state.
In recent years, the former minister lived, taking a break from the noisy St. Petersburg, in his beloved village of Porechye, Mozhaisky district, located not far from Moscow. On his estate there was a botanical garden (from foreign trips, the count brought outlandish plants, adapting them to the Russian climate), a huge park, a historical and archaeological museum, an art gallery, a library of hundreds of thousands of volumes, a study decorated with busts of Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Raphael, Dante by Italian sculptors. Famous writers, professors and academicians constantly came to visit him, who led disputes and conversations on various topics. Uvarov continued to fulfill the duties of the President of the Academy of Sciences, but these classes were not troublesome - life at the Academy proceeded in line with the reforms carried out in the first years of his administration. The mailing of scientific papers and letters to academies and universities in Europe continued, becoming a practice both in Russia and in foreign educational institutions. In addition to reading books and communicating with pleasant interlocutors, Sergei Semyonovich gave assessments of the political situation.
The great statesman died in Moscow at the age of sixty-nine on September 16, 1855. Historian Mikhail Pogodin recalled: "Officials in the educational department, students, professors and Moscow citizens of different classes came to bow to him." The famous historian Solovyov noted: "Uvarov was a man with undoubtedly brilliant talents … capable of taking the place of both the Minister of Public Education and the President of the Academy of Sciences." Even Herzen, who had no respect for Sergei Semyonovich, noted that he "amazed everyone with his multilingualism and the diversity of all sorts of things that he knew - a true sitter behind a staunch enlightenment." As for personal qualities, then, according to contemporaries, "the moral side of his character did not correspond to his mental development." It was noted that “in the course of a conversation with him - a conversation often brilliantly intelligent - one was struck by extreme vanity and pride; it seemed that he was about to say that God consulted with him during the creation of the world."
Sergei Semyonovich was buried in the family village of Holm, located not far from Porechye. His only son, Aleksey Uvarov, later became a major collector of antiquities, archaeologist and historian, one of the founders of the Moscow Historical Museum - a unique collection of historical relics. In addition, he was honored to hold the first archaeological congresses in Russia, which had a beneficial effect on the development of science.
