Transformations at the St. Petersburg Gymnasium by Sergey Uvarov as a successful experience of school reform

At the beginning of 1811, the young and yet unknown Sergey S. Uvarov was appointed to the prestigious position of curator of the St. Petersburg Educational District. In this role, Uvarov established himself as a successful reformer and supporter of the European education system. However, the full scope of his activities as a curator from 1811 to 1821 has been largely underestimated, which has had a significant impact on historiographical understanding of Uvarov's political and ideological trajectory as a prominent statesman during the reigns of Alexander I and Nicholas I. The article uses archival and published sources to examine one of the directions of Uvarov's reform activities - the comprehensive reorganization of the St. Petersburg provincial Gymnasium. After finding the capital's gymnasium in a difficult financial situation, with a poorly designed curriculum and lacking public appeal, Uvarov brought it into a “flourishing” state a few years later through consistent and coordinated measures. The number of students enrolled in it doubled, and it was decided that students should remain at the gymnasium until the end of the entire course. By establishing the gymnasium economic committee, streamlining financial statements, and proposing the reform of the gymnasium curriculum in 1811, Uvarov not only led the gymnasium budget to a surplus, but also set an experience that spread later. The privileges and advantages granted to the St. Petersburg Gymnasium, the completed training cycle, and the updated teaching staff increased its prestige in the eyes of the metropolitan nobility, putting it on a par with the universities of that time.