Kessler, Ernest Ernestovich

Ernest Ernestovich Kessler (? - May 8 ( 20 ), 1896 ) - teacher of the Latin language.

He graduated from the historical and philological faculty of Yuriev University (1863). He was dismissed from pedagogical courses at the university, then taught in private boarding schools of the Livonia province , until he got a job as a teacher of Latin in the Mogilev gymnasium . In the summer of 1869 he was sent abroad and after returning he began to teach at the 3rd St. Petersburg Gymnasium , where he remained until the day of his death, "deserving the seventh fifth birthday as a distinguished teacher of the Latin language." In addition, in 1879-1886 he taught at the private gymnasium of Bychkov (Gurevich) , as well as at the historical and philological institute . EE Kessler wrote the textbook “The Syntax of the Latin Language for Gymnasiums” (1874), which was awarded the Peter the Great Prize.

B. K. Ordin , who studied at the 3rd gymnasium, noted:

Short, broad-shouldered, with a smart face framed by rather thick dark hair, with a big smart forehead and stern, sometimes flashing wit or mocking eyes for a moment, who usually looked seriously through large golden glasses, E. Kessler made one look on his students the most disciplining influence.
They waited for his lesson with trepidation, sometimes with a sinking heart; but this awe did not come at all from a fear of severity or rigor, but was a natural phenomenon: natural dignity, great knowledge, and as a result the great authority of the teacher was beyond doubt. He knew his subject perfectly. His grammar, syntax, and the Radke's Materialien, specially published and processed for Russian high school students, are known, that is, specially selected and compiled by Cicero and other classics Russian articles, full of all grammatical and syntactic difficulties, for translation into Latin. In the lessons of E.E. Kessler, there was no noise, no stupid fuss, no wrangling.

- From the memories of the 3rd St. Petersburg gymnasium