St. Petersburg State University

1. St. Petersburg University is the second oldest and one of the largest universities in Russia. During the Soviet period, it was known as Leningrad State University. It was founded in 1819, though some scholars suggest a much earlier date. The University itself claims that it has already celebrated its 290^th anniversary. Today, the university boasts over 20, 000 students, 2, 000 professors, 210 departments and a library with 4 million volumes.

2. This prominent university has received international recognition thanks to the chemist Dmitry I. Mendeleev (creator of the Periodic Table of Elements), the physicist Alexander S. Popov (who invented the radio simultaneously with Marconi) and many other major scientists. Among the alumni of the school were many important figures of Russian culture and politics: the writers Nikolai Chernyshevsky and Ivan Turgenev, the poet Alexander Blok, the prime minister and reformer Pyotr Stolypin and the head of the 1917 Provisional Government, Alexander Kerensky. Even the great revolutionary Vladimir Lenin attended the university and passed his finals exams at the Law Faculty in 1891. The university has a reputation for having educated the majority of Russia's current political elite. These include presidents Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, both of whom studied Law at the university. Eight Nobel Prize winners are graduates of St. Petersburg State University (including the biologist Ivan Pavlov, the economist Vasily Leontiev and the poet Joseph Brodsky).

3. Saint Petersburg State University is the second best multi-faculty university in Russia after Moscow State University. It is made up of 27 institutes, faculties and colleges. Among them there are Faculties of Economics, History, Law, International Relations, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Medicine, Dentistry and Medical Technology, Oriental Studies, Philology, Psychology, Physics, Sociology, Political Science, Arts and some others. There are also Institutes of History, Earth Sciences, Philosophy, Chemistry, Graduate School of Management, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Academic Gymnasium, Department of Physical Culture and Sports and Military faculty.

4. The university has two primary campuses: one on Vasilievsky Island and the other in Peterhof. The main building of the university, Twelve Collegia, is located on Vasilievsky Island and includes the Library, the Faculty of Biology and the Institute of Earth Science. There are also several other buildings in different parts of the city. The new suburban campus consists of the Faculties of Applied Mathematics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Mechanics, and Physics, which are situated in modern buildings in Peterhof.

5. The university is a federal state institution of higher education managed by the government of the Russian Federation. President of Russia appoints the Rector for a five-year term. The Academic Council is the superior body of self-government of the university. University Administration also consists of Vice-Rectors and Directors of Institutes and President.

Notes:

scholar [ˈ skɒ lə ] – ученый, особ. гуманитарий

Provisional Government - временное правительство

current political elite [eɪ ˈ liː t, ɪ ˈ liː t] – нынешняя политическая элита

Faculty of Oriental Studies - Восточный факультет

Graduate School of Management - Высшая школа менеджмента

School of Journalism and Mass Communication - Высшая школа журналистики и массовых коммуникаций

Military faculty - Факультет Военного обучения

Twelve Collegia - Здание Двенадцати коллегий