Russia has been an agrarian country for a millennium. And today, despite the presence of a developed industry, the agricultural sector continues to play an important role in the economy of our country. That is why one cannot underestimate the importance of training qualified personnel for this industry. One of the higher educational institutions, which have been carrying out this difficult mission for decades, is the Agrarian University (St. Petersburg).
Addresses and contacts
Today SPbGAU is located at the address: Pushkin, Petersburg Highway, Building 2. In addition, in the city of Polessk, at ul. Sovetskaya, d. 10, located Kaliningrad branch. As for the organization of residing of nonresident students, the Agrarian University of St. Petersburg has its own campus with cultural and sports centers, also located in the city of Pushkin.
The first agricultural courses in St. Petersburg
It is known that the first Russian Imperial decree on the establishment of a special school where "theoretical and practical instructions on agriculture" should have been taught dates back to 1797.
However, the first agricultural courses in St. Petersburg were founded only in 1904. Moreover, these were the Higher Women's Courses for Grammar School Graduates, which were organized by Professor I. A. Stebut. The first set of Stebut courses consisted of 80 students who were taught by 4 dozen professors. In just two years, it became obvious that the country needed more agronomists, as a result of which another so-called Kamennoostrovsky courses were founded for men and women, which trained not only agronomists, but also livestock specialists, land surveyors and representatives of other specialties.
Agrarian University (St. Petersburg): history
In 1918, the Soviet state reorganized all existing agronomic courses in St. Petersburg into agricultural institutes.
Thus, several agrarian universities began to operate in Petrograd. Telling the history of agricultural education in Leningrad (in St. Petersburg) it is impossible to remain silent about one of its heroic pages. The fact is that although after the start of the Great Patriotic War, students and teaching staff were evacuated from the Leningrad Region, those who remained found the strength to organize a vegetable farm and block thousands of hectares of virgin lands. The work of these heroes can be equated to feats on the battlefield, since the products they cultivated have saved thousands of human lives. In subsequent years (until 1954), the agricultural institutes of Leningrad were repeatedly reorganized until in 1954 a single university was finally formed - the Leningrad Agricultural Institute, located in the city of Pushkin. In 1991, the university was renamed the State Agrarian University of St. Petersburg. During 1990-2000, the leadership and staff of the university carried out tremendous work on the modernization of St. Petersburg State University of Economics. In particular, new faculties were created, professors from other educational institutions of the country were invited, and new teaching methods were introduced taking into account world experience in organizing higher education.
St. Petersburg Agrarian University: faculties
Today, educational activities in 36 different specialties are being conducted at SPbSAU, 13 faculties operate here. Among them are the faculties of soil science and agroecology, management, legal, agronomic, natural and cultural heritage, economic, land management, plant protection and quarantine, zoo engineering, etc. In addition, since 1933, the university has a university-wide department of foreign languages, which teaches French, English, German and Russian (for foreigners) languages. St. Petersburg State Agrarian University also provides training in 38 postgraduate and doctoral programs. Candidate and doctoral dissertations are regularly defended.
Famous professors and graduates
The Agrarian University of St. Petersburg is rightfully proud of its famous graduates who, over the course of 100 years of the existence of this educational institution, have made a huge contribution to the development of agriculture and the economy of our country, as well as professors. In particular, in different years the great geneticist N. I. Vavilov, professor V. A. Bryzgalov, the governor of the Leningrad region A. Yu. Drozdenko, the famous statesman V. A. Zubkov and others studied and studied here.
Anniversary SPbGAU
In 2014, the Agrarian University of St. Petersburg will celebrate its 110th anniversary. In order to worthily mark this event, the university management, together with students and the teaching staff, developed a plan of festive events. So, in October 2014, it is planned to hold a Congress of graduates, to which former students, undergraduates and graduate students of SPbSAU are invited.
In addition, a video film is being devoted to the history of the university and an anniversary collection of scientific papers is being prepared for publication. And, finally, a large festive concert is planned, in which students and teachers themselves will take an active part. Thus, St. Petersburg Agrarian University, which is the oldest agricultural university in Russia, today continues the traditions laid down under Professor I.A. Stebut, and looks forward to tomorrow.