A.V. Predtechensky and St. Petersburg University

Abstract

The article discusses the academic career of the Soviet historian, Anatoliy Predtechensky, from his student days to his position as a professor. When considering the events in the scientist's life and work, the author employs both biographical and historical-intellectual methods. We examine his period of study at the History and Philology Faculty of St. Petersburg University, from 1911 to 1917. This article presents information from his student record that has not been previously published. Using materials from the Archive of the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as personal documents such as memoirs, we explore Predtechensky's professorial career at Leningrad University, dividing it into three stages: his work in the History department (1933-1954), Philology department (1946-1961) and Journalism department (1961-1964) of Leningrad University. Some attention is paid to the tragic pages in the history of Soviet higher education, which directly affected the life and career of Anatoliy Predtechensky (the «purges» and «prorabotki» of 1937-1938 and 1948-1949). The reader is invited to a more informal interpretation of the concept of “Predtechensky's school”, which includes not only his of cial students, but also other scientists who were in uenced by his personality and work