Slutsk Gymnasium

In 1617, a Calvinist school was opened, which in the 1630s became a Calvinist gymnasium. Since 1778 , when the reform was completed, the Calvinist gymnasium began to be called the public evangelical school, since 1809 the Slutsk educational institution began to be called the public district school, and since 1868 it received the status of the state classical male gymnasium ^[1] .

The Calvinist educational institution already in the 17th century gained fame and fame far beyond the borders of Belarus as the “Slutsk Athens”, as the “Exemplary Slutsk Gymnasium”. And she was able to do this only because outstanding teachers of her time stood near her cradle.

Teachers Andrei Dobryansky, Andrei Muzoniy, Reynold Adam and other founders of the Slutsk school - the authors of the statute and manuals - were educators of the European level. By the way, according to the manual on rhetoric created by Reingald Adam, Mikhail Lomonosov later studied. Practically all capable teenagers, regardless of religion and social origin, could become gymnasium students, in accordance with the statute. In training, the best known methods of that time were used, there were also those that would never be used in pedagogy today. For example, in order to interest students in better and deeper knowledge of the Latin language, which was then the language of science, for two hundred and fifty years in the Slutsk school, students received beer for additional study of Latin texts. A high school student could earn two glasses in a day.

Researcher Yakov Poretsky in Leningrad found the “Statute of the Slutsk School,” which was published in Lyubcha in 1628. Based on this source, the scientist proves that at the beginning of the XVII century the center of humanistic pedagogical thought, in fact, moved from Western Europe to Slutsk. Definitely, such a statement is not an exaggeration. No wonder the name “Slutsk Athens” appeared. Within the walls of the school everyone was not only given a large amount of knowledge, but also taught to really think. At the same time, the dialogue of the teacher with the student was skillfully used. Namely, it was Plato who introduced it as a fruitful form of training at his famous Athenian Academy ^[2] .

Gentry children, townspeople, and sometimes peasant children were admitted to the gymnasium. Studied for 6-8 years.

In 1809-1836, the Slutsk educational institution was reformed twice: new subjects were introduced, the secular director was appointed for the first time. Gradually, the school began to switch from Polish to Russian as the language of instruction. Within the walls of the gymnasium, a struggle broke out between supporters of Polish and Russian cultures. It reached its climax in 1862-1863. In 1863, after the uprising was suppressed under the leadership of K. Kalinowski, the teaching of the Polish language in the Slutsk gymnasium was permanently canceled.

In one of the halls of the gymnasium, Yakub Kolas performed. In 1923, teacher training courses were held in Slutsk, and Kolas gave lectures on the methodology of teaching the Belarusian language. For students of the courses, the poet first read his poem "New Zamlya".

After the October Revolution, the gymnasium was transformed into secondary school No. 1.

In 1998, received the status of "Grammar School No. 1 with in-depth study of the English language." In 2003, the gymnasium successfully passed the state certification.

In 1829-38, the old wooden building was replaced by a new stone structure, designed by Karol Podchashinsky ^[3] .

The gymnasium project has survived to the present. The building is an architectural monument of the era of classicism , currently it houses one of the buildings of the gymnasium.

• Bogush-Sestrentsevich, Stanislav ( 1731 - 1826 ) - a Catholic figure, the first archbishop of Mogilev . Member of the Russian Academy ( 1807 ).
• Voinilovich, Edward ( 1847 - 1928 ) - Belarusian and Polish public figure.
• Dauksha, Edward Jakub ( 1836 - October 1890 ) - Lithuanian poet and translator.
• Dyla, Yazep (Osip) Leonovich ( 1880 - 1973 ) - Belarusian writer and public figure.
• Javrid, Pavel Yakovlevich ( 1899 - 1939 ) - leader of the Belarusian national movement and anti-Soviet military resistance.
• Zaslavsky, Jerome Ivanovich (1833-1876) - Russian physician, doctor of medicine; college adviser.
• Kosberg, Semyon Arievich ( 1903 - 1965 ) - Doctor of Technical Sciences, expert in the field of aircraft engines and rocket engines, Lenin Prize Laureate, Hero of Socialist Labor.
• Kopievsky, Ilya Fedorovich (c. 1651 - 1714 ) - enlightener , publisher , translator , poet , writer .
• Krassovsky, Eduard-Anton Yakovlevich ( 1821 - 1899 ) - doctor, founder of obstetrics in Russia.
• Kulakovsky, Henry Kazimirovich ( 1808 -?) - Russian doctor .
• Lozinsky, Samuil Horatievich ( 1874 - 1945 ) - Russian historian , co-editor of the Jewish Encyclopedia (1907-1913).
• Nepokoichitsky, Arthur Adamovich ( 1813 - 1881 ) - Russian general, participant in the Caucasian campaigns , the Crimean war and the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878.
• Obukhovich, Olgerd ( 1840 - 1898 ) - Belarusian writer, translator.
• Ostrovsky, Radoslav Kazimirovich ( 1884 - 1976 ) - a figure of the Belarusian emigration, who actively collaborated with the Germans during the Great Patriotic War , president of the Belarusian Central Council in 1943 - 1944 .
• Ochapovsky, Stanislav Vladimirovich (1878-1945) - a prominent Soviet and Russian ophthalmologist, doctor of medical sciences, honored worker of science of the RSFSR.
• Cerasky, Vitold Karlovich ( 1849 - 1925 ) - Russian ( Soviet ) astronomer , corresponding member of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences (since 1914 ).
• Chimburg, Ivan Savvich ( 1904 - 1978 ) - Belarusian philosopher, specialist in Marxist philosophy, rector of Belarusian State University in 1949 - 1952 .

• Narysy gistoryі national asveti and teacher dumkі at Belarusі. - Mn., 1968.
• Samusik, A.F. Kalvinsky schools on theaters of Belarus ў Chantsi XVII - three hundred and eighteenth century art. / A.F. Samusik // Acta Albaruthenica: Czasopismo naukowe Katedry Białorutenistyki Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. - 2019 .-- T. 19 .-- S. 315-327.

• From the history of “Slutsk Athens”
• Slutsk gimnazіya: stagodzi praci on karysts Baskaўshchyn