Training in Classical Philology at Petrograd/Leningrad University in the 1920s: Institutional Аspect

This article examines the reproduction of classical philology staff at Petrograd Leningrad University in the late 1910s–1920s, a topic that has received limited scientific attention. The materials are primarily comprised of archival office documents and “Teaching Reviews” published during the specified chronological period. The study of the evolution of a discrete area of training enabled us to eschew the proclivity in post-Soviet historiography to portray the prerevolutionary generation of scholars as mere victims of Soviet policy and ideology. Instead, we were able to elucidate the strategies of adaptation deployed by professors of the “old” school in response to the advent of a new reality, one in which the science of classical antiquity was no longer supported by the state. The intention to modify the conceptualisation of the training system in classical disciplines and pedagogical experience in accordance with evolving circumstances is evident. Even the established system of studying ancient authors in class was presented as an “innovative” brigade-laboratory method of teaching, introduced by the Narkompros. Until 1927, the various departments, cycles and specialisations managed to maintain, in general terms, the previous approach to the training of a classical philologist, which was based on the complex nature of the discipline of antiquarian studies. The article uncovers several key trends in higher education during the 1920s that shaped the landscape of classical philology. These include the introduction and gradual increase in the share of the so-called “social disciplines”, which were unified across the entire faculty, the reduction in the number of specialised disciplines, and the curtailment of narrow specialisations under the banner of the struggle against “multi-subjectivity”. Additionally, there was a shift towards the graduation of professionals with practical skills, which gained prominence from 1928 onwards (the advent of the “cultural revolution”).