Chronicle of a harsh time: Irkutsk pedagogical university during the Great Patriotic war

The article presents the results of studying historical sources about the life of the Irkutsk state pedagogical institute in wartime conditions. It was established that the university carried out work on the training of teaching staff in five faculties and a Teacher's institute. Academic work at the university was restructured: the period of study was shortened, curricula and programs were condensed, and special disciplines were introduced that contributed to military training and morale-building. A significant part of the students and teachers were sent to the front. The employees who remained at the university not only continued the process of education and upbringing, but also engaged in scientific activities (M.A. Gudoshnikov, V.I. Dulov, G.F. Kungurov, E.I. Nedospasova, etc.), and also provided serious assistance to political structures in public work by giving popular science lectures to the city's population. Irkutsk, as a rear city, did not stop helping the front. Irkutsk state pedagogical institute staff and students were engaged in harvesting firewood, collecting scrap metal and funds for the Defense Fund, etc. Thus, the authors of the article, showing individual facts and events of the war years, presented the diverse activities of university teachers and students, their daily lives, assistance to the front, and a firm belief in the victory of the soviet people in the Great patriotic war.