Accumulation of knowledge and growing demand of the country for skilled specialists were creating more and more difficult problems in the sphere of education. In 1731 on the initiative of the former Peter's I supporter prosecutor-general of Senate P.I. Yaguzhinsky Land Military Boarding School for the Nobles was established.
In the course of time Naval, Artillery and Engineering Schools were established, being under special government protection. Educational establishments, such as gymnasium and University were provided for in the structure of Academy of Sciences, established on the Peter's I Decree in 1724. However, poor financial base, lack of organization, and the staff of the foreign teachers, who didn't speak Russian, caused low level of knowledge of the students. Since in 1758 M.V. Lomonosov became the Head of science and studies department of Academy of Science, the situation had improved.
Owing to him teaching of humanities obtained higher level, basic subjects were taught in Russian, teachers' stuff was completed with the most gifted students of the Academic University. Since the beginning of 1750s M. V. Lomonosov concentrated on the organization of the new educational and science center - Moscow University. Opened in 1755, the University had three faculties: philosophic, including physics-mathematics and linguistic departments, medicine and the faculty of law. Characteristically, there wasn't a theological faculty, which was a traditional faculty in European educational establishments of that type.
In the first quarter of the XVIII century the new organizational base of Russian science was worked out. In 1725 invited from abroad foreign scientists arrived in Russia and L.L. Blumenkhros, physician in ordinary, was assigned to the first President of Academy. The status of Petersburg Academy was close to the status of Paris and Berlin Academies, which were supported by the Government, but depended on it less then Russian Academy.
Prominent scientists gathered in Academy of Science: mathematicians L. Euler and D. Bernoully, astronomer J. Delisle, physicists G. Rikhman and F. Aepinus. Lomonosov's scientific activity was of real pioneering kind. A notion of atomic-molecular structure of substance, developed by him, the formulated principle of conservation of motion and matter, notions of kinetic origin of heat, the research on atmospheric electricity, theories on color formation, the ideas about change of the surface of the earth in the course of time and a row of other discoveries became the main points of the growth of wide range of sciences.
The priority of the work of Academy included studying of geography, nature of Russia and ways of life of its inhabitants of different nationalities. A number of scientific expeditions were conducted. The second Kamchatka expedition under the leadership of Captain-Commander Vitus Bering (1733-1743) appeared to be the most successful one. In the course of the expedition North-Western America was discovered, the strait, named after the Head of the expedition, the northern sides of Siberia were described; Curilsky islands and Northern Japan were mapped.
Historiography moved ahead considerably. By the middle of the century history knowledge turned into science, the works of V.N. Tarpischev having contributed to it. Concerning the approach to the subject of the study, his four-volume 'History of Russia', covering the events up to the end of the XVI century, was a real scientific work. M.V. Lomonosov worked at history with a great success too; he was interested mostly in the ancient period of Russian history and in the time of Peter I. He wrote 'The ancient history of Russia from the beginning of Russian folk to the death of grand prince Yaroslav I, or to 1054 ', 'Short chronicle of Russia with genealogy ', historic poem 'Peter the Great' and other works.
In the second third of the XVII century the first literature style - classicism - formed in Russia. On the first stage of its development the most important problems were the problem of creation of the new literary language, reforming of versification and working out the strict system of genres. The base of modern literary language, forming in that time, was influenced by Lomonosov's teaching about three styles: high style, including words, common for the Church Slavonic and Russian languages; middle style, including only Church Slavonic words; and low style, including only words of the Russian language.The genres of tragedy and comedy obtained the most complete development in the works of A.P. Sumarokov (1717-1777), who wrote 9 tragedies and 12 comedies.The genre of the poetical satires, mastered by A.D. Kantemir, was to extirpate vices, such as ignorance, cupidity, avarice, drunkenness, hypocrisy etc.
The reform of versification was connected with the name of the first professional literal man D.K. Trediakovsky. (17031769). The achievements of Russian dramaturgy created good conditions for developing of Russian theater. At the end of 1740s in Yaroslavl the first distinctive company of Russian actors under the leadership of the outstanding actor F.G. Volkov, the son of a merchant from Kostroma, appeared. In 1752 Yaroslavl actors were invited in St. Petersburg and in 1756 were included in the company of newly established Russian theatre. The theater settled in so-called Golovinsky house on Vasilyevsky island, Sumarokov was assigned the director of the theater. At the same time a theater appeared in Moscow: its company consisted of the amateur actors - students of Moscow University - and the actors of Lokatelli's Italian Comic Opera. Nevertheless Moscow theater didn't exist long: most of its actors were transferred to St. Petersburg in 1761.
In the second third of the XVIII century baroque spread. Emotional elation, elaborateness, wide use of contrasts, hyperbole and illusion effects were the characteristic features of the style. V.V. Rastrelli, S.I. Chevakinsky, D.I. Ukhtomsky were the most prominent masters of baroque in Russian architecture. |
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