“No hope for enthusiasm to rise in the professorial circle”. Preparation for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the St. Petersburg Spiritual Academy in 1909

The preparation for the 100th anniversary of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy began back in 1903, initiated by the young lecturer of the Russian Church History department, A. V. Kartashev. At that time, the Academy’s Council decided to invite all graduates to participate in collecting materials related to the history of the capital’s premier theological school, by submitting lectures, manuscripts, professors’ papers, memoirs, and letters to the Academy. However, this project was not realized, as Kartashev was forced to leave the Academy in 1905. Subsequently, Professor P. N. Zhukovich proposed preparing and publishing a “Biobibliographical Dictionary of Professors of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy” for the anniversary. This project also remained unfinished. Originally, the celebrations were planned for February 16-17, 1909, but they were eventually postponed to December 15-17 of the same year. The process of preparing for the academic jubilee amid the challenging conditions of the First Russian Revolution and the subsequent reaction is considered in this article based on published and archival sources.