The first Grodno Agricultural Institute graduates of 1955: a collective portrait reconstruction

The paper summarizes and analyzes information about the first graduates of the Grodno Agricultural Institute, established in 1951. The task of the study is to process information related to age, national composition, origin, reasons for transfer to Grodno from other universities of the USSR, graduate performance, the fate of students during the Great Patriotic War. The subject of the study was the personal files of students in 1951-1955, students of zootechnical and agronomic departments. The methodological basis of the study was the principles of historicism and objectivity; historical-systemic and formal-typological methods were used. The number of the first graduates, which took place in 1955, was not numerous and consisted of 22 people. The national composition and geography of origin of graduates were varied, but it should be noted that the largest percentage after the Belarusians were Russians, including those who had previously received education in agricultural educational institutions of the RSFSR. Most of the young people who moved to Grodno were students of the Belarusian Agricultural Academy in the city of Gorki, Mogilev Region. An analysis of the progress records of students transferred to the Grodno Agricultural Institute allows us to conclude that most of them have a rather high personal potential. Success in studies was an obvious prerequisite for future production activities. Individual graduates of 1955 were recommended to continue working at the university, and one of the most notable graduates received an academic title and worked as a lecturer at the institute. It should be especially noted that the graduate students of 1955 witnessed the Great Patriotic War, some served in the ranks of the Soviet army, or actively participated in the partisan movement on the territory of Belarus.