University Rector
Hjelt served as vice rector of the University of Helsinki from 1896 till 1899 and as rector from 1899 till 1917. The political turmoil after the announcement of the February Manifesto of 1899 by Russian Emperor Nicholas II, which was meant to start a Russification of Finland and tie the Grand Duchy of Finland closer to the Russian empire, induced student demonstrations. The Russian authorities, especially the Finnish Minister Secretary of State Vyacheslav von Plehve and the Governor-General of Finland Nikolay Bobrikov, had to deal with the reactions of the people. Hjelt was able to reduce the pressure on the students and the university and also to stop aggressive reaction of the students to the oppression. With a short relieve after the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War the oppression continued.
Read more about this topic: Edvard Hjelt
Famous quotes containing the words university and/or rector:
“If not us, who? If not now, when?”
—Slogan by Czech university students in Prague, November 1989. quoted in Observer (London, Nov. 26, 1989)
“Under bare Ben Bulben’s head
In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid.
An ancestor was rector there
Long years ago, a church stands near,
By the road an ancient cross.
No marble, no conventional phrase;
On limestone quarried near the spot
By his command these words are cut:
Cast a cold eye
On life, on death.
Horseman pass by!”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)