Pribaikalsky People's University

The university was created by cooperative and public organizations of Verkhneudinsk . The idea of ​​creating a university in Verkhneudinsk arose after the opening of Irkutsk University in 1918. Due to the difficult financial situation, an adult school was created instead of a university, which existed intermittently in 1918 and 1919.

On January 18, 1920, at a meeting of the Non-Trade Department of the Baikal Union of Cooperatives, the question was raised of creating a university to replace the closed adult evening school. It was supposed to create either the Higher Peasant School or the People’s University. At a joint meeting of the cultural and educational departments of the " Baikal Union ", " Economy " and "Credit Union", it was decided to open the University. In the spring of 1920, an initiative commission was created, which included representatives of cooperative and public organizations, as well as school teachers.

On June 2, 1920, the first lecture was delivered, and then lectures on various issues were delivered daily at the premises of the former 1st Verkhneudinsky Gymnasium . Guided tours, music evenings, art readings.

Until the fall of 1920, the “Society of Pribaikalsky People’s University” was created, the charter was registered, and other organizational work was carried out. On October 31, 1920, the grand opening of the Pribaial People's University took place. November 1, classes began.

In the 1920-1921 academic year, teaching was conducted at two faculties: general education and the humanities with two departments - social-legal and verbal-historical.

In 1920-1921, the following subjects were taught at the general education faculty: grammar of the Russian language, history of Russian literature, psychology, history (Russian), social studies, physics, chemistry, natural sciences and astronomy.

The general education faculty also included courses of foreign languages ​​- French, German and English. At the general education faculty, knowledge was given in the framework of the second-level school (secondary school).

The Faculty of Humanities arose in the middle of November 1920 from the cycle lectures that were before the university. The Faculty of Humanities was intended for students who graduated from high school.

In the academic year 1920-1921, the Law Department of the Faculty of Humanities read: state law, criminal law, financial law, political economy, general theory of law and the criminal process.

On the verbal-historical department - the history of Western Europe, the history of the Siberian public, the scientific grammar of the Russian language.

In the 1920-1921 academic year, a number of separate courses were held - medical literacy, soap making with practical exercises and beekeeping courses.

In February 1921, at the Pribaikalsky People’s University, on the initiative and at the expense of the Pribaikalssoyuz, the department of Pribaikalyeology was opened. The department investigated the archives of Buryatia, published its own Izvestia, wrote articles for the magazine “Pribaikalsky Krai”. Since September 1921, on the instructions of the Ministry of Education of the Far East, the department investigated and protected the archives of the Baikal region ^[1] .

In June 1921, the Board and lecturers of the People’s University were organizing an exhibition on the Baikal science. According to the results of the exhibition, the Pribaikalsk Regional People's Assembly and local cooperatives decided to create a regional museum .

In the summer of 1921, university teachers gave episodic lectures on various branches of scientific knowledge - the history of culture, the history of philosophy, the history of the latest Russian literature, the history of foreign literature, political economy, and natural history. physics, chemistry, medicine, the history of the professional movement and Baikal studies. An educational and demonstration garden was created at the university.

In the summer of 1921, an art folk theater was created at the People's University. The performances were staged in the auditorium of the People’s University, both by local and visiting artists (from the Irkutsk State Opera). In addition, 9 performances were staged in the following areas: 1 in Vakhmistrovo, 5 in the Petrovsky Zavod, and 3 at Onokhoy station.

In the academic year 1921–1922, the university employed: general education faculty, humanitarian faculty, physics and mathematics faculty, foreign language courses (French, German and Latin) and the Baikal studies department.

On September 4, 1921, branches of the Baikal People's University in Troitskosavsk were opened.

Universities of at least 16 years of age were admitted to the university, without entrance examinations, the choice of specialty and subjects is free. Education at the university was free. On January 1, 1920, the university had 515 students and 408 students on November 12, 1921 . The university’s activities were funded by the Upper Ude cooperative organizations Pribaikalssoyuz and Saving, the Regional Department of Public Education.

The university closed in November 1922 in connection with the liquidation of the Far Eastern Democratic Republic.

• Girchenko, Vladimir Petrovich - Head of the Department of Baikal Studies.

• St. Suhe-Bator, 16 - the building in which the Baikal People's University was located. Monument of history.

• K. Volmin Pribaikalsky People's University // Pribaikalsky calendar for 1922. Verkhneudinsk. Book publishing of the United Baikal Union of Cooperatives. pg. 115-118
• Guide to the collections of the National Archives of the Republic of Buryatia 1917-2007 Ulan-Ude, 2008. p. 218