Herzen University

Herzen University, or formally the Russian State Pedagogical University in the name of A. I. Herzen is a university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was formerly known as the Leningrad State Pedagogical Institute. It is one of the largest universities in Russia, operating 20 faculties and more than 100 departments. Embroidered in its structure are the Institute of Pre-University Courses, the Institute of Continuous Professional Development, and the Pedagogical Research Center. The university is named after the Russian writer and philosopher Alexander Herzen. History The university dates its creation to , when Emperor Paul I of Russia gave an independent status to the , or foundling house, established by Ivan Betskoy and put it under the patronage of Empress Maria Feodorovna. The Imperial Foundling House eventually developed into the modern Pedagogical University. Betskoy's humanistic ideas furnished the basic principles of the foundling house. The Imperial Foundling House developed as an educational establishment carrying progressive ideas of upbringing based upon charity and patronage. It mainly took in destitute and deprived children: foundling orphans, disabled children, and children from failed marriages. In 1837, the "Women's Foundling Institute" was established on the basis of the House's higher classes. After 1885 it was called Nicholas' Foundling House. In 1806, a college for the deaf appeared, the first educational establishment for disabled children in Russia. In 1864, a pedagogical seminary was created for countryside students who were to become teachers of public schools and colleges. Four years later, a women's college was established that granted specialisations of a nurse, village school and kindergarten children. This set the basis for Russian pre-school education. During these years, kindergartens were set up in the district of the foundling house. The graduates of the House worked in the new establishments for children. In the Mariininsky department, a reorganised foundling house, pedagogues like worked, the editor-in-chief of "Children's magazine" and the author of books for children, and , an adherent of the "sound method" of teaching reading and writing and an author of textbooks for public colleges. In 1918, the consolidation process of Mariinsky department and foundling house-related establishments started. In the same year, the Women's Pedagogical University was renamed the First Pedagogical Institute.