DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.3.36009

Abstract: The subject of this research is the foundation of women’s education system in the Russian Empire, namely of the Office of the Institutions of Empress Maria, which totaled up to three dozen by the early XX century. Actualization of the knowledge about the best examples of the Russian school in the past is determined by the fundamental importance of education in the context of ongoing modernization of the country. The topic of Women's institutes of Imperial Russia, which existed for over 150 years, is poorly studied. Despite the extensive source base, in the historical literature one can often come across improper names of the institutes, determination of their departmental affiliation, class composition of the students, as well as incorrect dating and topography. Using the historical-systemic and typological analysis, the author determines and clarifies the conceptual framework of the problematic as a necessary research toolset. The author's contribution to selected topic consists in discovery of a wide variety of sources, including those introduced into the scientific discourse for the first time, accurate names of the institutes and variations in the official documents and everyday practice., their renaming and the causes. The article also traces the dynamics of changes in the class and confessional composition of students since the establishment of the institutes until the beginning of the XX century. Subordination and departmental affiliation at different stages of the history of these institutes is clarified.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2019.3.29043

Abstract: The article examines the contribution of the Minister of National Education S. S. Uvarov to the development of women's education which was part of the Russian education system. With Uvarov's participation, new educational institutions were being established in the western governorates, where there was basically no Russian school for girls, based on the model of the closed institutions set up by the Vedomstvo of Empress Maria. Heading the education board of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens for nearly one and a half decades, Uvarov used this institution as a model for others and carried out a number of changes aimed at improving both the educational process and its regulation. The methodological basis of this study is the principle of historicism and the historical-biographical method, which allowed the author to analyze the formation of women's institutional education in the context of public policy. The article demonstrates how, in accordance with the general direction of the ministry’s educational policy, most closed women's institutions, as well as men's educational institutions, went through a renewal of personnel structure starting from the late 1830s. The places of class inspectors and teachers were occupied by professionally trained specialists, often undergoing internships abroad. The author concludes that the work of S. S. Uvarov contributed to the significant improvement in the development of training in women's institutions.