Belarusian State University - History

History

Decision to establish Belarusian State University, as a first national university of Belarus, was made on 25 February 1919 by the government of the Byelorussian SSR. However, Minsk was occupied by the Polish army at the time, and the university was actually established in 1921 in Minsk.

Vladimr Picheta, historian and Slavonic languages expert, became first rector of the BSU. The university staff was formed by professors and lecturers transferred from universities of Moscow, Kazan and Kiev. Faculty consisted of 14 professors, 49 lecturers and 10 teaching assistants. First graduates left the BSU in 1925.

Initially there have been three Faculties - Workers, Medicine and Humanities with 1,390 students among them. In 1922 a new Pedagogical Faculty was established. In October 1927 post-graduate degrees became available.

During the 1930s, the university became not only the key center for education and research in Soviet-controlled Belarus, but also led to branching out of specialized educational institutions and to the establishment of Belarusian Academy of Sciences.

By 1941, just before the 20th anniversary of the university, there have been 6 Faculties:, and, and Languages. There have been 50 professors, 41 docents and 90 assistants (junior lecturers). There was also a Workers Faculty (providing part-time education to full-time employees of factories and plants) and special part-time Polish- and Yiddish-language sections.

In June 1941, Minsk was occupied by Nazi Germany; some students and academic staff were evacuated to the east, some joined the Soviet Army or partisan brigades. Some of university buildings were destroyed, some were used by the Germans as hospitals and offices.

In May 1943, Belarusian State University was re-established at Skhodnya, a suburban settlement to the north-east of Moscow. Some of former students and academics joined the re-established university. Its libraries were newly formed through donations from universities and colleges of Moscow.

In August 1944, first group of students and academic staff returned to Minsk, and regular classes restarted in autumn 1944. By September 1945, there have been over 300 students in the re-established university in Minsk. However, pre-war buildings and research facilities were not restored until late 1950. By then, there have been 7 Faculties, 35 professors, and 170 other academics at the BSU.

During the 1950s-1980s, the university significantly evolved: new Faculties have been established, new buildings have been built, new research facilities have been added. Numbers of academic staff and students increased dramatically. In the former USSR, Belarusian State University became one of key research and educational establishments and received several government awards for excellency.

Since Belarus independence (1991), the BSU continues to be the major university of the country. In the early 1990s, it was a center of Belarusian national revival, with many lecturers (and even entire Faculties) choosing to switch from Russian to Belarusian as main language of teaching and research.