The University of Warsaw: 'university'? 'of Warsaw'?

• Authors: Schiller J.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Ever since its establishment in 1816, the University of Warsaw became an instrument of political control in the hands of the Russian authorities, in charge of this part of partitioned Poland (Kingdom of Poland) at that time. Depending on the political situation a number of ideas were developed and/or put into effect concerning the university. The idea that envisioned reorganizing the university along the French model, i.e. establishing several specialized schools, located outside Warsaw, was considered three times: (1) at the beginning of the 1820s, when a wave of anti-university sentiment spread across Europe. At the time, the University of Warsaw saw its autonomy greatly reduced, as happened in the case of all universities in Russia; (2) again after the fall of the November Rising of 1830-1831, but Tsar Nicholas I finally decided to close the University; (3) at the beginning of the 1860s, when plans were considered to set up a number of specialized tertiary schools in the Kingdom of Poland. It was, however, the determined stance of Aleksander Wielopolski (commissioner for education and later head of civil administration of this part of Russian-held Polish lands), who was adamant that a unitary tertiary school be established, even at the price of changing the name from 'University of Warsaw' to that of 'Main School', that ultimately prevailed. After the fall of the January Rising (1863-1864) and the authorities' decision to convert the Main School into a Russian-language university, which functioned under the name of Imperial University for 46 year, there were two times when the question of moving the university into Russia was considered. During the 1905-1907 revolution, such a proposal was made by some of the professors, in the face of a boycott of the university by Polish students. Talks on that subject were conducted with a number of Russian cities, including Voronezh and Saratov. The Russian government finally decided to keep a university in Warsaw, but as a result of the boycott, the university was Russian not only in the sense of the language used, but also of the nationality of its professors and students. For the second time the question emerged during the First World War, when the military and political situation forced the Russian authorities to evacuate. Beginning from the autumn of 1915, there were two Universities of Warsaw: one Polish, in Warsaw, and another Russian, in Rostov on the Don which functioned until 1917. On 5 May 1917 the Russian Provisional Government decided to close the University of Warsaw. The decision took effect on 1 July 1917; on the same day, the University of the Don, now called University of Rostov, was inaugurated. The 'Rostov period' in the history of Warsaw University has become the subject-matter of research by Russian scholars, and the results of that research are presented in the current article.

Keywords

EN

UNIVERSITY OF WARSAW (1816-1917)

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Instytut Historii Nauki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
• Journal: Kwartalnik Historii Nauki i Techniki
• Year: 2005
• Volume: 50
• Issue: 3-4
• Pages: 25-58
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Schiller J.

• J. Schiller, Instytut Historii Nauki PAN, ul. Nowy Swiat 72, 00-330 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

06PLAAAA01012336