Karl May School - Divisions

Divisions

From the very beginning the school consisted of two divisions. Children who appeared inclined towards the humanities were designated Latinists and in the initial years studied in that division, later to be renamed Gymnasium. Here, along with German and French, the ancient languages Latin and Greek were taught. Gymnasium students, having studied for nine years, as a general rule prepared for the continuation of their education at university. Young people more inclined towards the natural sciences were called non-Latinists: over the course of eight years in the natural science division they acquired a great quantity of knowledge of the exact sciences and prepared for engineering work. Until 1909 there also existed a small commercial division, in which English was studied instead of French. Thanks to this structure, in 1881 the official title of this secondary educational institution became “K. May Gymnasium and Natural Science College”.

For the first 25 years the school was German, which is to say that the lessons in all subjects except Russian language, literature and history, and a few natural science disciplines as well, were led in the language of Goethe.

From 1861 the school was located in building no. 13 on the 10th line. The first class of the natural science division was graduated in 1863, and of the Gymnasium, in 1865. In 1890 K.I. May handed over the reins of directorship to Vasilii Aleksandrovich Krakaw (1857-1935), an 1873 May graduate, who, having graduated from the historical-philosophical faculty of the university, taught history in his former school. Under his directorship the method of teaching was perfected, the natural science division developed, and the equipment of the classrooms and laboratories improved.

In 1906, after the retirement of V.A. Krakaw, the new director was a selected graduate of the historical-philosophical faculty, the magistrate of Slavic studies Aleksandr Lavrentovich Lipovsky (1867-1942). During the period of his leadership the educational institution experienced two important events. First of all, the school marked its fiftieth anniversary, and to mark the occasion published a unique jubilee collection of former students’ recollections. The second event resulted from the fact that with the school’s growing popularity, the space it occupied was beginning to be inadequate. In 1909 a part of building no. 39 on the 14th line was taken over, and according to the plan of master architect G.D. Grimm (an 1883 graduate), a unique new building was built with a bas-relief May bug above the arc of the entrance way. With a great concourse, the dedication took place on 31 October, 1910. It was led by the bishop Gdovskii and by Benjamin Ladozhskii, the future metropolitan of Petrograd.

In four floors, along with classrooms for 650 occupants, eight beautifully equipped specific-subject classrooms were built—for physics, chemistry, natural history, history, geography, drawing, modeling, and choir (three of these had auditoriums in the form of amphitheaters); there were additionally a carpentry studio, a library numbering 12 000 books in Russian, German, French, English, Latin and Greek, a sports hall and a cafeteria.

On the eve of the First World War, under the leadership of 38 highly qualified educators, 567 young men received their education here. There were many excursions, not only to famous Petersburg museums, but also to centers of production. Various circles were active: literary (publishing a printed paper, “The May collection”), historical, maritime, photographic, sporting, and aircraft-modeling (in which N.V. Fausek, a 1913 graduate, built the first model aircraft in Russia).

After the start of the war with Germany, the Emperor Alexander I/K. May Gymnasium and Natural Science College Field Hospital was opened in the school in September 1914; all the auxiliary duties were fulfilled by the students.

In the period comprising 1910-1917 the school truly blossomed. The last (fifty-fifth) graduation took place on 24 February 1918. Since 1856 the school had educated about 3800 Petersburg youths, 1300 of whom received the attestat degree. 15% of the graduates were awarded golden medals and 17% silver medals for exceptional academic success. According to the norms of the time, “realists” were not given medals.

This piece of history was described in greater detail for the first time in the book (published 1990) The School on Vasilievskii, authored by several former “May-bugs”—academic D.S. Likhachev, school historian N.V. Blagovo, and literary theorist E. B. Belodubrovskii. To mark the 150th anniversary of the school, celebrated in 2006, N.V. Blagovo has published a second, extended edition of this book.