Opening of the Institute of Noble Maidens. Pupils of the Institute of Noble Maidens. The main tasks set by the Smolny Institute

This experiment actually marked the beginning of women's education in Russia. We tell how noble maidens lived.

new breed

In the 18th century, the house-building traditions were the generally accepted norm of Russian society: they did not stand on ceremony with girls, they did not teach the sciences, their life scenario was predetermined.

However, Empress Catherine II, as a progressive ruler, decided that in Russia, following the example of France, an educational institution for girls of noble classes should appear. The main goal of the institution was to "improve the breed of Russian fathers and mothers."

The plan was ambitious: "To bring happiness to an individual and thereby raise the well-being of the entire state." The empress intended to take girls from families in order to protect them from ignorance and, placing them in an ennobling environment, create a completely new type of women who in the future will pass on their experience, skills and knowledge to the next generations.

The empress did not have daughters, and she became attached to some pupils, visited and even corresponded. Four letters of Catherine II to a certain girl Levshina have been preserved.

The Empress wrote: “My bow to the whole society<…>tell them that I am pleased to see their every kind of success, it gives me real pleasure; I will prove it to them when I arrive one evening to play with the company to my heart’s content.”

Strict regime

At the same time, about 200 girls were trained at the institute. At first, the institute's rules were harsh. Girls from noble families were accepted from the age of 6 for a period of study of 12 years. Parents signed a document that they would not demand their daughters back, they had the right to visit them at a strictly allotted time and only with the permission of the head.

From the middle of the 19th century, concessions began to be allowed, “petty-bourgeois girls” began to be admitted to the institute - they were settled in a separate building. Girls could go home for the holidays, and the training period was reduced to 7 years.

The future secular ladies lived like Spartans: they got up at six in the morning and had a strict daily routine, there could be up to 8 lessons per day. The young pupils went in formation - both to prayer and for a walk. The girls were tempered, so the temperature in the bedrooms did not exceed 16 degrees, they slept on hard beds and washed cold water.

The girls were fed simple meals and small portions. regular menu noble maidens it looked like this: morning tea with a bun, for breakfast a piece of bread with a little butter and cheese, a portion of milk porridge or pasta, for lunch liquid soup without meat, for the second - meat from this soup, for the third - a small pie, and there was also an evening tea with a bun.

During Lent, the diet became even more meager: for breakfast they gave no more than six small potatoes with vegetable oil and porridge, for lunch - soup with cereals, small piece boiled fish, which the hungry pupils called "dead meat", for its disgusting taste and appearance, and a miniature lean pie.

The enrolled girls were divided into age groups. Under Catherine, there were four "ages", then they were reduced to three groups. Visually, the division was emphasized by the color of the dress: the younger ones (from 6 to 9) are coffee-colored, hence their nickname “kofulki”. Next came blue (from 9 to 12), the third age (from 12 to 15) wore gray dresses, and female graduates (from 15 to 18 years old) are white.

When choosing such colors, they were guided both by practical goals, because small ones get dirty more often, and globally spiritual ones: from indivisibility with the earth to high thoughts, befitting graduates. But regardless of the color of the dress, the style was modest and old-fashioned.

The most terrible punishment for the pupils was the deprivation of a white apron. They were punished mainly for inaccuracy, pampering in the classroom, stubbornness and disobedience. They took off the apron from the pupils, pinned an untidy piece of paper or a torn stocking to the dress and forced them to stand in the middle of the dining room during dinner.

It was very difficult for girls suffering from incontinence. Such a pupil was obliged to go to breakfast with a wet sheet over her dress, it was a shame not only for her personally, but for the whole group. The most exemplary pupils were called “parfettes” (from the French “parfaite” - perfect), and the naughty ones “movies” (from “mauvaise” - bad).

Education system

The main subjects that the girls studied were all kinds of art, the word of God, languages, exact sciences and the humanities. There was physical education with elements of gymnastics and dancing.

The ability to gracefully curtsey was valued more than success in mathematics, for good manners teachers forgave poor grades in the exact sciences, and could be expelled from the institute only for obscene behavior. Their "sciences" especially honored the study of the French language.

Institute girls were evaluated on a twelve-point scale. At the end of the year, they necessarily compiled a performance rating and issued intermediate insignia: cockade bows or laces with tassels that were tied around the hair.

The main purpose of education was not to teach, but to educate. Cleverness was not encouraged, a noble girl had to be modest, be able to behave with dignity, have impeccable manners and taste.

Inequality

Many children of the Decembrists attended Smolny Institute, for example, the daughters of Kakhovsky finished the course with silver medals. Foreign high-ranking persons also studied here: Swedish aristocrats, Shamil's granddaughter and daughters of Georgian princes, princesses of Montenegro.

According to official sources, the head of Smolny at that time, Princess Liven, said to a young classy lady: “Perhaps you still do not know the traditions of Smolny. It is necessary to demand double and triple from the princess, because the fate of her subjects will depend on her character.

In practice, everything was different. Although august persons and wore uniform institute dresses and went to regular lessons, they were provided with other accommodation and own kitchen, the girls spent their holidays in the estate of the head of the institute.

Girls from poor families who could not afford long-term education were supported by scholarships organized by the imperial family and rich people. They wore a ribbon around their neck, the color of which was chosen by the benefactor.

Star graduates

The first issue of Smolny was truly famous: the Empress knew almost all the girls by name, some she assigned to the court. In the future, the tradition continued: the best candidates of noble birth became ladies-in-waiting.

The maids of honor got a chance to successfully marry, because the circle of their acquaintances was made up of the most brilliant suitors of the country. Well, those who were less fortunate with the pedigree, after graduation, were looking for a place as a teacher or governess.

Of the famous graduates, one can recall the daughter of King Nikola I of Montenegro and his wife Milena Vukotic, Princess Elena of Montenegro, who, married to Victor Emmanuel III, became the Queen of Italy and Albania, the Empress of Ethiopia. Her sisters Grand Duchess Milica Nikolaevna, Zorka Nikolaevna and Anastasia Nikolaevna also graduated from the establishment.

In 1895, a graduate of Smolny was Ksenia Erdeli - People's Artist of the USSR, harpist, composer, teacher and founder Soviet school harp performances.

In 1911, Nina Komarova graduated from the institute - the future poetess Nina Khabias, a student of Alexei Kruchenykh and one of the first futurists.

The conceived plan of Catherine II ended in success. Girls who graduated from Smolny played an important role in enlightening and improving Russian society. They were brilliant teachers, wonderful mothers, selfless nurses.

Many smolyanka serving people: opened girls' schools and gymnasiums, built hospitals and hospitals for the poor. The October Revolution put an end to "noble education", and to this day there is no institution in Russia like the legendary Smolny Institute.

Once I happened to hear from a French student who visited Russia a question that was a little uncomfortable for me. He asked: “Why are all the rich in Russia so rude? In France, the most polite people are the rich. And only simple people are rude.” To tell him our saying: “There will be no pan out of a boor,” it seemed to me too derogatory for our people. But if you think about it, then our new Russians are precisely the representatives of that common people who, due to a lack of culture and education, allows himself rudeness and arrogance towards others.

Education is a very important indicator in assessing a person's personality. Respecting another does not mean being weak and intimidated. And that's exactly how our rich people think. For them, gaining prestige and raising self-esteem consists only in rudeness and rudeness. That is why higher education, science and culture were so swiftly lowered into the mud. That is why the most disrespected professions were a teacher and a doctor. Authority is won by fists and arrogance only in the criminal stratum, only in the most declassed and uneducated element.
The new elite is trying to rank itself with the old Russian intelligentsia, the nobility, trying to show itself Orthodox, but without proper education and understanding of what a culture of behavior is, it will never come close to high society. The article below just gives an understanding of what high society is and how you need to educate yourself and your children in order to get there.
Yes, only the elite received such education as in Smolny, yes, we are talking about women's education, but something else is important: the understanding that a lot depends on women's education. And this upbringing lies not only in Orthodoxy, but also in the rules of etiquette and culture.
The history of women's education in Russia is inextricably linked with the name of Empress Catherine the Great. Kultura.RF tells how the Institute of Noble Maidens appeared and how its emergence affected the lives of Russian women.

Educated women and useful members of society




European culture, which began to take hold in our country from the end of the 18th century, brought many innovations into the life of a Russian person. Under Peter I, schools for girls began to appear. This was the first step in the development of women's education in Russia. But the real breakthrough in this area was the initiative of Catherine the Great, under which the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens was founded in St. Petersburg. The first institution of higher education for women in Russia opened on May 5, 1764.

The creation of the institute was initiated by one of those close to the Empress - Ivan Betskoy, a public figure, educator, and an employee of the State Chancellery. He was educated in Europe, supported Catherine in her quest to inculcate habits of Western life in her compatriots, and highly appreciated the role of women in the development of society. Betskoy believed that "boys of both sexes" should be brought up in equal conditions.

When founded, the Smolny Institute was called the Educational Society for Noble Maidens. His idea was written in official document: "to give the state educated women, good mothers, useful members of the family and society." Ekaterina herself actively participated in the life of the institution: she invested great amount money, she often came to the institute, where she had long conversations with cool ladies, talked with pupils and corresponded with managers, being interested in all the successes and difficulties. The Empress wanted the graduates of Smolny to become an example for all women in the country. According to her plan, the girls were to receive a good education to develop culturally and morally.

The Smolny Institute accepted girls from well-born, but not rich families. They were both from Russia and from other countries - the daughters of Georgian princes, an aristocrat from Sweden. The training lasted 12 years. During this time, the students could not leave the institution either at will or at the request of the guardians. Girls were admitted to Smolny from the age of six, and the training program included three classes - each of them lasted four years. The relatives of the pupils drew up a receipt in which they agreed to give the child for 12 years without the possibility of meetings and trips outside the institution. So the empress was going to protect the pupils from the influence of the environment in which they grew up before entering the institute.

It was not easy to get into Smolny: potential students had to pass exams in Russian and French, and also have a good religious education. But the most important criterion by which many applicants were eliminated is the origin.

“By no means make subjects of boredom out of the sciences”

In Smolny, girls were taught many sciences. The schedule included arithmetic, literacy, three foreign languages, religious studies, etiquette, culinary arts, drawing, music, vocals, geography, history and other subjects. However, many of them girls studied very superficially. For example, at cooking lessons, pupils of the Smolny Institute learned how to fry cutlets from minced meat. History was studied from a single textbook and often jumped over topics.

The main emphasis in the study was on the rules of behavior in society and the word of God. It was believed that the pupil of this institution, that is, the future maid of honor or a young lady serving at court, should be able to keep up the conversation about religion and behave in society with restraint and grace.

The physical condition of the girls was also given attention. Lungs sports exercises they worked out several times a week. Support slim figure the diet helped: the food was scarce, and sometimes simply of poor quality. Many graduates wrote in their memoirs that eating at the institute was one of their worst memories.

The temperature in the students' bedrooms did not rise above 16 degrees. They went to bed early and got up early, slept on hard beds, washed ice water from the Neva. All this was to temper the girls.

“The charter urgently demanded that children always look cheerful, cheerful, contented and “free actions of the soul.” Therefore, it was instructed not to make objects of boredom, grief and disgust out of the sciences, and to facilitate the assimilation of knowledge by all means, while paying attention to the degree of development and ability of each girl individually.
Zinaida Mordvinova, author historical outline"Smolny Institute in the Era of Catherine II"
Rules of conduct for noble maidens




The charter of the Institute of Noble Maidens spelled out in detail the rules of conduct. It was discussed how the teachers should treat the Smolensk girls and how the pupils should communicate with each other.

More than 20 teachers worked at the institute - they were highly qualified teachers. It is noteworthy that they were all unmarried ladies and usually older than 40. Physical punishment at the Smolny Institute were strictly prohibited, but the teachers did not hesitate to shout at the guilty pupils. Violation of order in the institute was considered "bad behavior", and naughty girls called "moveshki" ("mauvaise" - bad). There was another term - "parfettes" (distorted French "parfaite" - perfect). So they teased the students who never broke the rules and behaved perfectly.

All "Smolyanka" were supposed to be a model of modesty. They wore same clothes and hairstyles - smoothly combed braids. Uniform dresses were different colors, the approximate age of the student was easily determined from them. The smallest girls wore coffee-colored dresses, so they were called "coffee houses", girls from 9 to 12 years old - blue, from 12 to 15 years old - blue, and the oldest - white color. None fashionable accessories were not allowed. All this was due to the general atmosphere in the institution, where simplicity and monotony reigned, and discipline and order were valued above all else.

Despite strict rules and the inability to see the family, the girls were not kept locked up. all year round. They were taken to theatrical performances, art exhibitions, holidays at the court. Smolyanka women were taught to love the beautiful and understand the cultural innovations of that time.

Employment after graduating from Smolny was practically guaranteed. Many girls remained at the Institute for Noble Maidens after their studies and worked either as teachers or class ladies. For many years of work, they were awarded badges of honor: an orange bow "For Labor" and a silver with enamel "Sign of the Institutions of the Office of Maria Feodorovna." Some pupils of the Smolny Institute after graduation could become governesses.

Smolny Institute after Catherine II

After the death of Catherine, the management of Smolny was taken over by the wife of Paul I, Maria Feodorovna. Having stayed in this position for 32 years, the Empress changed a lot in the lives of pupils and teachers. First of all, the rules for entering and living at the institute have changed. Now the girls were giving away with more late age- from about 8 years old - and they studied there not for 12, but for 9 years. Maria Fedorovna changed the schedule in such a way that hourly lessons appeared. Twice a year, female students took exams, and depending on the results, they were assigned to certain classes. The class gradation now looked like this: the most successful students, then the girls with an average grade, and the third grade with the lagging behind.

With the advent of Maria Feodorovna, the goals pursued by the employees of the institution have noticeably changed. Now, from the pupils, they sought to make, rather than maids of honor, but complaisant wives. If in Catherine's time it was ordered here to read the book "On the Positions of a Man and a Citizen", now it has been replaced by "Fatherly Advice to My Daughter". The Institute for Noble Maidens was closed in 1917, but until then all the changes of Maria Feodorovna were strictly observed.

The Smolny Institute has existed for more than a century and a half. During this time there were 85 issues. Many of the tars became famous. Shortly before the closure of the institute, Maxim Gorky's lover, Maria Budberg, entered there. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Nina Habias graduated from the institute, who later became a futurist poetess. In 1900, Maria Dobrolyubova, a poetess and revolutionary, the sister of the poet Alexander Dobrolyubov, graduated.

The Institute for Noble Maidens was a big step in the development of women's education in Russia. On the basis of this institute, other educational institutions for women began to appear throughout the country.

Xenia Mareich

It was believed that the most elegant ladies-in-waiting, respectable wives, and just great smart girls come out of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens. After the girls got into this educational institution, they practically did not see their parents, and the conditions in which they lived were truly Spartan. Our review contains 30 photographs from Smolny, which will allow you to see how his pupils lived.

The Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens, which opened in St. Petersburg on May 5, 1764, became the first women's educational institution in Russia.

Empress Catherine entrusted the management of the Institute to her personal secretary Ivan Ivanovich Betsky, who was the initiator of the opening of the Institute of Noble Maidens. He was educated abroad, talked a lot with encyclopedists and adhered to rationalistic views, being sure that the most important thing is education, education and again education!

True, Smolny clearly did not reach the educational institution, since the sciences there were studied superficially. The emphasis in the institution was on foreign languages, good manners and discipline. Reasoning women were not honored.

The charter of the Institute was sent "to all provinces, provinces and cities ... so that each of the nobles could, if he wishes, entrust his daughters in their young years to this established upbringing from Us." There were few people who wanted to send their children to prison for 12 years. Many doubted what I would teach their children there. But in 1764 the first recruitment took place.

True, instead of the estimated 200 students, only 60 girls 4-6 years old were recruited. These were children from low-income, but well-born noble families. A year later, the institute opened a faculty "for petty-bourgeois girls." Peasant girls were not accepted into the institution.

the main objective teachers of Smolny was to make a “parfette” out of a girl (parfaite French - “perfect”). A girl could get a reprimand for the slightest deviation from the rules: an insufficiently neatly made bed, a loud conversation at a break, a stray curl, a bow tied on an apron that was not according to the charter.

For a torn stocking, for carelessness or for tricks, the girls were left to stand in the middle of the dining room while others dined. Girls were so carefully protected from vices that the seventh commandment about adultery was sealed in the Bibles.

The conditions at the institute were Spartan, since Betskoy was sure that only in healthy body healthy mind. He believed that children should be accustomed to the cold, so in the bedrooms of Smolny the temperature was no more than 16 degrees. The girls slept on hard beds, in the morning they always went out to exercise and washed themselves with cold water from the Neva.

The diet in Smolny was, by today's times, more than modest. Daily menu looked like this:

Morning tea with a bun.
- Breakfast: a piece of bread with a little butter and cheese, a portion of milk porridge or pasta.
- Lunch: liquid soup without meat, for the second - meat from this soup, for the third - a small pie.
- Evening tea with a roll.

There were days when only French or German was spoken at the institute, and for uttering a Russian word, an inattentive girl was put on a cardboard tongue around her neck. She had to wander through the galleries of the institute and could not even sit down. This lasted until she heard Russian speech from someone else, and then the language switched to another victim.

At the second stage of training, geography and history were added, and at the third stage, reading moralizing and historical books, heraldry, architecture and physics. On the last step training repeated everything previously learned, paying special attention to the Law of God and housekeeping, which was to prepare the girl for the future family life. In addition, in Last year girls taught lessons in the lower grades to gain experience in raising children.

At the end of the institute, the six best students received a golden cipher - the metal cypher of the reigning empress. It was worn on the left shoulder on a white striped bow. Graduates were awarded gold and silver medals.

After graduating from the Institute of Smolyanka, they either arranged for a maid of honor at the court, or married off, or left at their own institute as a teacher or class lady.

Severe rules at the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens can only be compared with those that exist in choreographic schools. Ours allows you to immerse yourself in this atmosphere.

It is difficult to overestimate the role played by the Smolny Institute in the life of Russia. This, of course, is not about its role in the days of the Bolshevik coup of 1917, but about the fact that it was the first secular educational institution for women in Russian history.

Smolny graduates contributed greatly to the enlightenment of Russian society. It was they who, creating families or, due to circumstances, forced to raise other people's children, instilled in them a love of culture, respect for the history of their country, and a thirst for knowledge. The Educational Society for Noble Maidens marked the beginning of women's education in our country, on its basis and in its likeness, not only women's institutes and gymnasiums of the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria, but also women's institutions of other departments of Russia and even beyond its borders were subsequently created.

The beginning of the education of women at the state level was laid by Catherine II, who energetically supported the initiative of I. I. Betsky to found the first secular women's educational institution. Even her predecessor, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna (1709–1762), wanting to quietly end her life in the monastery, ordered the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli to build the Convent of the Resurrection on the left bank of the bend of the Neva, on the site of the suburban Smolny Palace. In 1748 it was laid. Years passed, the Seven Years' War began, and there was not enough money to complete the construction. The monastery was never used for its intended purpose. After the death of Elizabeth, it was the Smolny Monastery that Catherine made the seat of the Educational Society for Noble Maidens. According to the will of its founder, it was called upon to fulfill a high state task - to educate a new generation of Russian women and thereby serve the cause of renewing Russian life. In the decree of the Empress of May 5, 1764 on the establishment of an educational institution for 200 noble maidens at the Smolny Monastery, it is said that its goal is "... to give the state educated women, good mothers, useful members of the family and society." The main principle of the first women's institute was proclaimed "education in beauty and joy."

Smolny was created as a narrow-class, purely noble institution. Catherine II ordered to send a decree "to all provinces, provinces and cities ... so that each of the nobles could, if he wishes, entrust his daughters in their young years to this established upbringing from Us." At first, there were quite a few who wanted to enroll their children in the Educational Society (later called the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens). Russian nobility, quite recently forced by Peter the Great to live in a European way and very reluctantly releasing their wives and daughters from tightly closed rooms to the famous Peter's assemblies, by the time of Catherine II, she still did not understand at all the need for a serious education for women. In Russia there was not a single school where girls would study. Noblewomen in best case taught at home with the help of foreign tutors, and girls from poor families, as a rule, were not taught at all.

It was far from clear to everyone why a woman who relatively recently left the tower after several centuries of imprisonment in it needed knowledge in mathematics, history, geography, heraldry and much more. All this seemed unnecessary and even dangerous: all of a sudden, a newly educated girl would pick up “lewdness”, begin to “play tricks”, “understand a lot about herself” and rebel against male supremacy - the basis of the patriarchal order tested and time-honored. I really didn’t like the categorical requirement of a subscription from parents or guardians, that before the expiration of the 12-year period set for training, “the girl will not be demanded under any circumstances.” This condition stemmed from the fact that the mores of Russian society, according to Catherine and her associates, were still rude even in the circle of the nobility, so it was necessary to protect the child from such an environment.

For many, a serious incentive to send their daughter to a new institution was its charitable nature. This attracted primarily poor people. Indeed, the girls presented for the first reception were almost exclusively from low-income noble families. There were 60 first Smolensk women, of which only seven were titled, the rest were the daughters of petty officials, chief officers and even lower court servants. Many studied at the expense of the state. A large number of the pupils were kept at the expense of special scholarships established both by the empress herself and by her entourage. Moreover, in 1765, under Smolny, despite the fact that it was formed as a closed privileged educational institution for the nobility, a department was opened “for petty-bourgeois girls” (non-noble estates, except for serfs) - School for young girls.

Starting from 1766, Catherine II began to place orphans in Smolny with her boarders, as well as girls whose fathers died in the war or stood out for their merits. These students were accepted in excess of the set and regardless of the established time of admission. Catherine's inner circle followed suit. The heir Pavel Petrovich, at his own expense, supported six girls admitted to the institute in 1773 and 1776, I. I. Betskoy, who was at the head of the Educational Society, taught ten pupils from each appointment, putting special capital in their name in the bank. In 1770, the chamberlain E. K. Shtakelberg bequeathed her estate to Smolny so that the money received for it would be used to raise young girls from the poor noble families of Livonia and give them scholarships upon graduation. Princes Orlov, Golitsyn, Demidov made annual contributions for the maintenance of scholarship holders.

It should be noted that this tradition was preserved until the very end of the existence of the Smolny Institute. Smolyanka, trained at someone's private expense, wore a ribbon around their neck, the color of which was chosen by the benefactor. So, the scholarship holders of the Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich wore blue ribbons, Demidov - orange, Betsky - green, Saltykov - raspberry.

First, the boarders (from 6 to 18 years old) were divided into four "ages", the training continued for 12 years. Then they left three "ages", the girls studied for 9 years. The first, younger "age" wore dresses of coffee or Brown color, the second is blue, the third is grey, the fourth is white. Accordingly, the younger pupils were called “coffee houses”, the middle ones were called “blue”, and the girls of the older “age” were called “white” (although they came to the lessons in green, only their ball gowns were white).

Clothes were sewn from camlot, ordered from England. on holidays and Sundays relied on silk dresses of the same colors. Empress grantees wore green dresses with white aprons. The students were also given hairpins, pins, combs, powder and gloves - three pairs of leather a year and one pair of white kid for three years for assemblies.

The first head of the Smolny Institute was appointed a representative of one of the most noble families, Princess Anna Dolgoruky. This was done in order to give the institution more weight in the eyes of the nobility. However, the princess turned out to be an arrogant, poorly educated, superstitious woman and, moreover, completely devoid of pedagogical and administrative abilities. The Empress very quickly had to set her aside. Next choice turned out to be much more successful - Sofya Ivanovna de Lafon, the widow of a French general in the Russian service, managed not only to improve her life and study at the institute, but also to win the love and trust of Smolensk women. Ekaterina herself paid a lot of attention to her offspring - she often visited Smolny, knew all the boarders by name, and even corresponded with some.

The empress encouraged the passion of pupils theatrical performances. They put on short translated plays, comic operas, but mostly they played performances in French and German, which was supposed to help the girls learn them better. In addition, Catherine allowed the cadets of the gentry corps to participate in performances, which, of course, made it possible for many young people to get to know each other.

In general, despite the frivolous mores of that era, the institute maintained strict rules: getting up at 6 in the morning, then 6 or 8 lessons. Play time was very limited. The students lived in dormitories of nine people with a lady assigned to them. In addition, there was also a cool lady who monitored the behavior in the classroom.

At the same time, the nature of teaching at Smolny was not dry and pedantic. Lessons turned into conversations between teachers and pupils. The former had to take special care that the latter "were not accustomed to being overly conceited and showing a dull look." In teaching, it was prescribed to take into account the characteristics, character traits and abilities of each girl and, in accordance with this, make demands on them. The pupils devoted their free time to reading (mainly moralizing treatises and books of historical content) under the supervision of mentors.

The training program of the first Smolensk girls was quite versatile. IN primary school studied the Law of God, arithmetic, Russian, foreign languages ​​(French and German, then added Italian), drawing, dancing and needlework. In the second "age" history and geography were added, in the third, verbal sciences were introduced, studied by reading historical and moral books, architecture, heraldry and experimental physics. IN last class they repeated everything that had been covered earlier, with special attention being paid to the Law of God and classes in "economy", that is, housekeeping, which prepared the graduate for family life. Girls of the last "age" were appointed in turn to junior class for practical acquaintance with the methods of education and training. One of the most important events in the life of Smolensk women there was a public exam, which was usually attended by imperial family. On the eve of the exam, each student received a ticket and tried to prepare well.

Although the original program was multi-subject, it was not too extensive. The influence of Catherine, who attached the main importance moral education and wished that education, being of the highest quality possible, would not develop “smartness” in the pupils.

Immediately after the death of Catherine, Paul I entrusted his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna, with the command over all charitable and women's educational institutions created on the model of Smolny. First of all, these are the Catherine Institute in St. Petersburg (opened in 1798) and boarding schools for noble maidens in some provincial cities, as well as the Catherine Institutes in Moscow (1802) and Kharkov (1811), already open under Alexander I.

Maria Fedorovna immediately changed the curriculum of Smolny. According to the provision proposed by her, the “coffee” class was canceled, children were now accepted from 8-9 years old and remained in Smolny for nine years. Each "age" was divided into two departments (classes) of 50 people, that is, 100 people studied in each "age". With regard to petty-bourgeois girls, the empress believed that their education should be limited to "the act of their good wives, good mothers and good housewives, which is quite enough for six years." Therefore, she proposed to accept the Meshchansky School from the age of 11-12, so that 100 people study at the school. At the next reception, Maria Fedorovna intended to accept only 20 bourgeois women. Paul I did not agree to this and approved a set of petty-bourgeois pupils of 200 girls.

According to the new plan, reading, writing, and Russian, French, German grammar, geography, history, and arithmetic were taught at the first "age," and all subjects were introduced gradually. At the same "age" it was supposed to teach the boarders "dancing, drawing, the beginnings of music and needlework, characteristic of the female sex." All these items were supposed to be 42 hours a week. The duration of each lesson is 2 hours.

The reform of Maria Feodorovna radically changed the character of Smolny. The broad social tasks set by Catherine II essentially disappeared and were replaced by narrower, purely feminine ones. Maria Fedorovna recognized a woman as a "worthy and useful member of the state" only as a housewife. Therefore, instead of the book "On the Positions of a Man and a Citizen", which was read under Catherine, under Maria Feodorovna they began to read and explain the book "Paternal advice to my daughter." It says: "God and human society they wanted a woman to depend on a man, so that she would limit the range of her activities to the home, so that she would recognize her weakness and the advantage of her husband in any case and win his love and affection with modesty and humility. A woman should be “a perfect seamstress, weaver, hosiery and cook; must divide her existence between the nursery and the kitchen, the cellar, the barn, the yard and the garden.”

Maria Fedorovna advocated a strict delimitation of classes, she saw "great inconvenience in mixing noble maidens with petty-bourgeois ones, for it is undoubted that the duties and appointment of the latter in many respects differ from the duties and appointment of noble maidens." At first, she canceled the teaching of foreign languages ​​to petty bourgeois women, but at the reception in 1797 it turned out that “many of the newly admitted pupils are already fairly trained French petty-bourgeois women released from the same Society. Upon learning of this, the empress ordered the teaching of French and German at the Meshchansky School, in order "to give its pupils the means of life in the future." At the same time, the teaching of natural history was abolished a year later. The system of education, worked out in 1797, existed in all women's institutes for almost half a century.

In the 19th century, the Smolny Institute became an increasingly closed, privileged educational institution, where special preference was given to everything foreign, secular manners, piety, sentimentality and admiration for the imperial family were instilled in the students.

In 1859, K. D. Ushinsky was appointed inspector of classes at the Smolny Institute. The famous teacher reorganized the process of education and upbringing: he introduced a new curriculum based on a small amount subjects, subject lessons, experiments in physics, organized a two-year pedagogical class in addition to the usual seven classes, etc. But due to intrigues and denunciations, he was forced to leave Smolny in 1862, after which his main innovations were eliminated. Until 1917, the Smolny Institute remained one of the most conservative educational institutions Russia.

And so, in October 1917, gloomy comrades from the Bolshevik Council of People's Commissars, headed by Lenin and Trotsky, settled in Smolny, and the Smolny Institute was closed. And now the main reminder of the former brilliant times is, perhaps, only the beautiful portrait series "Smolyanka", painted by the wonderful Russian artist D. G. Levitsky.

It ended with a visit to the Smolny Institute, where the city government is currently located.

They took us along the corridors, accompanied by a security guard - a policeman, they showed us only a few rooms, and for some reason they were not even allowed to take pictures in the corridor, where a gallery of portraits of all Petersburg governors was arranged.

A little about the institute and the system of education in it.

Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens - the first women's educational institution in Russia closed type for the nobility, which laid the foundation for women's education.

It was founded on the initiative of I.I. Betsky in accordance with the decree of Catherine II of May 5, 1764 and was originally located in the cells of the Resurrection Smolny Monastery.
But then, due to the increase in the number of pupils, it was decided to build a new building and in 1809, according to the project of D. Quarenghi, it was built (then without Ilyich in front of the facade)

The charter of the society was written by I.I. Betskaya, based on her own pedagogical views, formed under the influence of Western European educational philosophy, which Catherine II also sympathized with.

It established a complete regulation of his activities: rules on education, teaching and prayers; food and uniforms, holiday meetings, the position of the head and ruler, the position of the trustees, which should be four senators.

The educational society was originally designed for the maintenance of 200 girls of a noble rank.

Girls were accepted at the age of 4 to 6 years, the training lasted 12 years and was divided into 4 "ages" of 3 years each.
The first admission of girls aged 4 to 6 took place in August 1764.

Here are the famous images of one of the first "smolyanka" Dm. Levitsky

Life in the institution was distinguished by simplicity and rigor.

Girls were taught the Law of God, Russian and foreign languages, arithmetic, drawing, dancing, music and needlework. At the 2nd age, history and geography were added, at the 3rd - verbal sciences, sculpture, architecture, heraldry, physics, turning.
Pupils of the last age were assigned in turn to the junior class for practical familiarization with the methods of education and training. Lessons went from 7 to 11 and from 12 to 14 hours, classes alternated with exercise, daily walks, games in the fresh air or in the halls.

Pupils studied all year round, holidays were not provided. Examinations were held every three years.
The table was simple and healthy, consisting mainly of meat and vegetables; They only drank milk and water. Pupils were required to wear special uniform dresses of a certain color: in younger age- coffee, in the 2nd - blue, in the 3rd - gray and at an older age - white (according to legend, the style of the dress was drawn by Catherine II).

Cool ladies were obliged to act with prudence and meekness with the pupils. Punishments were ordered to be avoided, only "exhortations" of the guilty were allowed.
According to the first charter, parents visited their daughters only on appointed days with the permission of the boss - the institution was supposed to completely replace the family.

The usual payment for the maintenance of pupils was 300 rubles a year, but for individual pupils they paid much more, and these funds went to educate the poor. More than half of the girls studied at the expense of benefactors. The boarders of the empress wore green dresses, and the boarders of private individuals wore a ribbon around their necks, in the color chosen by the benefactor.

Changes in the lives of pupils began in 1859, when, at the direction of Empress Maria Feodorovna, an outstanding teacher K.D.

He made changes in the curricula and, most importantly, vacations were established, since the long-term upbringing of girls in isolation from the family adversely affected their future life.

Now let's walk through the building.
A small museum has been organized in Smolny, where what is left of the historical interior is collected.


Handicraft box on a genuine table

This is what the handicraft class looked like

Some of the library books

Musical instruments that pupils learned to play


Harp lesson

This is what the students and teachers looked like on the layout

But as in old photos

Next, we went to the famous dance White Hall, where the most solemn institute balls were held. They were attended by members of the Imperial family.


This is what the dance class looked like in the ballroom

During the revolution, when the headquarters of the Bolsheviks settled in Smolny, the interior of the White Hall underwent changes, though not immediately.
The first performance of V.I. Lenin in October 1917 took place in the White Hall in the old interior,

and then architectural surpluses were removed


The stucco panels of the air ducts were removed,


windows covered with sculptures of angels


Only the lamps have been preserved in the most incomprehensible way.


Currently, the White Hall has been restored the way D. Quarenghi intended it.
Further, our path lay in the apartments of V.I. Lenin and N.K. Krupskaya, located in the former dwelling of one of the cool ladies.
We were shown only their apartment, and the famous office with green table lamp where Ilyich received walkers - for some reason not.

The room is small, the bedroom is fenced off with a plywood partition, it was inconvenient to shoot - it was a bit crowded, but everything remained authentic from those very times, right down to the floor.

Now, just a little bit about the fate of the pupils of the institute, who, by the will of the revolution, found themselves in its headquarters.
Here are the graduates of 1917

How their fate scattered them, little is known.
But the remaining students, by revolutionary standards, were very lucky, because in October 1917 the pupils of the institute under the guidance of Prince. V. V. Golitsyna went to Novocherkassk, where in February 1919 the latest release.
In the summer of the same year, the teachers and the remaining pupils left Russia along with the White Army, and the institute was resumed in Serbia.