Capital city and university: forms of publicity and system of interaction in the first half of the XIX century

The study presents and structures insufficiently studied forms of interaction of the pre-reform university as an institution and as a community with the external environment on the example of St. Petersburg University. The documents of departmental and university archives and other sources reflect the administrative, social, and cultural contacts of the university corporation with the city residents and at the same time the communication of the university as an institution with the city authorities and the higher administration. Comparative historical observations show that in the early XIX century the university existed in a fairly closed space both geographically and socially, which gave rise to the problem of recruiting students capable of taking a course of sciences. With the development of teaching, the university became a center of attraction for the noble youth who wanted to make an official career, while the social ties and public influence of professors started expanding. Such forms of publicity as open lectures and debates, participation of professors in the work of other educational institutions, membership in scientific societies and Academies of Sciences, teaching to representatives of the royal family, as well as annual solemn events and other university commemorations turned the university into an influential actor on the cultural and political map of the imperial capital. Of great importance was the university’s participation in the management of the schools of the capital’s educational circle, their inspection, accumulation of school reports, distribution of teacher vacancies among the graduates, who turned into the university agents in the provincial centers. In the system of bureaucratic management, the university acquired the role of an expert due to the system of examining and licensing those officials who wanted to receive the eighth-class rank. The capital university conducted more extensive activities in this direction than other universities, which is reflected in the number of issued certificates and conducted tests. The participation of professors in the work of departmental commissions and the departments of the Ministry of Public Education, censorship of books and magazines, publication of textbooks, including those for secondary schools, also contributed to strengthening the reputation of the university.