Count Sergey Uvarov | |
|---|---|
Сергей Уваров | |
 Uvarov's portrait byJan Ksawery Kaniewski, 1844 | |
| Born | (1786-08-25)August 25, 1786 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire |
| Died | October 4, 1855(1855-10-04) (aged 69) Moscow, Russian Empire |
| President of theRussian Academy of Sciences | |
| In office 1818–posthumously | |
| Monarchs | Alexander Nicholas Alexander II |
| Preceded by | post vacant |
| Succeeded by | Dmitry Bludov |
| Minister of National Education | |
| In office 1833–1849 | |
| Monarch | Nicholas |
| Preceded by | Karl Lieven [ru] |
| Succeeded by | Platon Shirinsky-Shikhmatov |
| Signature | |
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CountSergey Semionovich Uvarov (Russian:Серге́й Семёнович Ува́ров; 5 September [O.S. 25 August] 1786 – 16 September [O.S. 4 September] 1855) was a Russian classical scholar and politician who is best remembered as an influentialstatesman underNicholas I of Russia.
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Uvarov, connected through marriage with theRazumovsky family, published a number of works onAncient Greek literature andarchaeology, which brought him European renown. A confirmedconservative, he was on friendly terms withAlexander Humboldt,Madame de Stael,Goethe,Prince de Ligne,Nikolay Karamzin, andVasily Zhukovsky. Uvarov studied inGöttingen, and from 1811 to 1822, he curated theSaint Petersburg educational district.
In 1832, Uvarov was appointedDeputy Minister of National Education, succeeding his father-in-law CountAlexey Razumovsky; in 1833 Uvarov was appointed Minister of National Education, until 1849.[1] He was elected an Honorable Member of theRussian Academy of Sciences in 1811 and was the president of that venerable institution from 1818 until his death. In the wake of theDecembrist revolt of 1825,the Emperor moved to protect the status quo by centralizing the educational system. He wanted to neutralize the threat of foreign ideas and what he ridiculed as "pseudo-knowledge." However, Uvarov quietly promotedacademic freedom and autonomy, raised academic standards, improved facilities, and opened higher education to the middle classes. By 1848 the Emperor, fearing the political upheavals in the West might cause uprisings in Europe, ended Uvarov's innovations.[2]
Uvarov was responsible for coming up with the formula "Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality", the basis of his activities regarding public education. According to Uvarov’s theory, the Russian folk (narod) is very religious and devoted to the Emperor, so theOrthodox religion and Autocracy are unconditional bases of the existence of Russia. Nationality (narodnost) is deemed to be the necessity to follow independent national traditions and to fight foreign influence. The theory stated that it was necessary to reject western ideas –freedom of thought, freedom of personality,individualism,rationalism which were considered by Orthodox religion as dangerous and rebel thinking. The chief of Russian political police (the Third Section of His Majesty Personal Chancellery)Alexander von Benckendorff wrote that “the past of Russia was wonderful, the present is splendid and the future is above all dreams”. These three concepts were considered as "pillar-walls" of the Russian Empire. He worked to limit access to education by people of non-noble origin and strengthening governmental control over the universities andgymnasiums, once famously remarking, "No universityPugachevs." It means that only a small part of Russian population (only noble ones, many of them of foreign descent) had the possibility to get the education; it was almost impossible for Russian non-nobles (raznochynets) to get access to education. Within this meaning, theNarodnost (Nationality) meant that Russian folk had to stay away from education (Western influence) in order to preserve the folks' pure Russian national character.
The universities were small and closely monitored, especially the potentially dangerous philosophy departments. Their main mission was to train a loyal, athletic, masculinized senior bureaucracy that avoided the effeminacy of office work.[3][4]
Despite these reactionary measures, Uvarov was also responsible for laying the foundations of high-quality education in Russia and reinstating the practice of sending Russian scientists abroad. Unfortunately all his deeds and acts were a dead contribution into Russian educational system, because almost 99% of Russian population (non-nobles, folk) were prohibited from getting education, no matter how talented they were.
Uvarovite, the rarest ofgarnets, is named after him. His sonAleksey Uvarov co-founded theRussian Archaeological Society and theState Historical Museum in Moscow.
Uvarov's known relationship was with Prince Mikhail AlexandrovichDondukov-Korsakov, who, according to persistent rumors reflected in Pushkin's scurrilousepigram, was owed his appointment in the Academy of Sciences to his homosexual relationship with Uvarov.[5]
"Уваров, Сергей Семенович" .Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1906.
Media related toSergey Uvarov at Wikimedia Commons| Academic offices | ||
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| Preceded by | President of theRussian Academy of Sciences 1818–1855 | Succeeded by |
