Moscow State Pedagogical University

Moscow State Pedagogical University

Московский педагогический государственный университет
Old main building, in Malaya Pirogovskaya
Former name	Moscow University for Women (1872-1918) Second Moscow State University (1918-1930) Moscow State Pedagogical Institute (1930-1941, 1960-1990) Moscow State V. I. Lenin Pedagogical Institute (1941-1960)
Type	Public
Established	1872, 1918
Students	20,000
Location	Moscow, Russia
Website	www.mpgu.edu

The Moscow State Pedagogical University is a major educational and scientific institution in Moscow, Russia, with eighteen faculties and seven branches in other Russian cities. The institution has operated under a series of names since 1872.

The university originates in Vladimir Guerrier's Higher Women's Courses and was founded in 1872 as Moscow University for Women. It was subsequently reconstituted several times. In 1918 it admitted men and became the Second Moscow State University, then was reformed without its Medical and Chemical Technology schools as the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute, which for a time was known as the Moscow State V. I. Lenin Pedagogical Institute. In 1990, the Institute regained the status of university and thus its present name.

In May 1872 the Russian Minister of Education, Count Dmitry Tolstoy, consented to the opening by Professor Guerrier of "Higher Women's Courses" as a private educational institution and approved Regulations for this purpose. In November 1872, the first building of the Moscow Higher Women's Courses was opened at Volkhonka, ushering in the era of higher education for women in Russia.

Initially, courses were for two years and were in humanities and natural sciences. At first, there were two departments, History & Philology and Physics & Mathematics. In Moscow alone, 1,232 women were admitted to the courses between 1872 and 1886.

A female student attending a course became known as a kursistka. While still a young doctor, Anton Chekhov paid for his sister Masha to attend Guerrier courses.

In 1886, the Ministry of Education prevented the admission of new students to Guerrier's courses, and they ended in 1888.

Following the end of the Guerrier courses, public lectures for women were organized systematically, most of them given by the same teachers, and in the same premises, as before. The public lectures lasted until 1892, when they were closed by the government. From 1886 there were also collective lessons, with a bias towards the natural sciences.

In 1900 the name Moscow Higher Women's Courses was instituted, and in 1906 a School of Medicine was launched. Courses were taught by outstanding scholars. In 1907, educational buildings by the architect Soloviev opened in Little Tsaritsyn Street, now Small Pirogovskay Street. This is now the main building of the Moscow State Pedagogical University. In 1908 came the Anatomical Theatre, now the Russian State Medical University, and the Physical Chemistry Building, now the Moscow Academy of Fine Chemical Technology.