The corresponding decree was signed by the President of Russia in the year of the 250th anniversary of the first higher technical educational institution in our country.
On Wednesday, May 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree assigning "honorary names" to St. Petersburg Mining University. In particular, it says that the university "should henceforth be called: "Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University" It was she, a quarter of a millennium ago, who inscribed "so be it" on the document on the establishment of a mining school in the city on the Neva. The mission of this school was to train engineers for the Urals deposits and metallurgical plants, to optimize production, and to reduce the cost of their products.
In 1896, Nicholas II, in recognition of Catherine the Great's merits in the development of domestic education and mineral resources, gave the school the name "Mining Institute of Empress Catherine II". That is, the current decision of President Vladimir Putin is a restoration of the historical memory, which was erased after the revolution of 1917. Under Soviet rule, the LGI was named after Georgy Plekhanov for several decades.
The proposal to return to the former version of the name, which would have included the name of the founder of the institution, "by the sovereign will of which it was begun," was submitted by the rector Vladimir Litvinenko to the Academic Council on April 21, 2023. The high council voted unanimously in favor. Vladimir Putin supported the initiative on May 24 by signing the corresponding document.
"The decree of Nicholas II was announced during events marking the centennial of the death of Catherine the Great. The director of the Mining Institute, then Valerian Meller, commenting on the event, stressed that the staff of Russia's first higher technical institute has always held sacred the memory of the Empress. And called the decision of the Emperor the best reward for all the employees and students. For my part I can also assure you that the decree of our President is the best present for the coming anniversary", - said Vladimir Litvinenko.
The Saint-Petersburg State Mining University was founded on October 21, 1773, according to the old style. The first students who started their studies on June 28, 1774 were 19 students from Moscow University who had already studied the basics of chemistry, arithmetic and geometry, German, French, and Latin; 4 assay students from the Berg Collegium's chemical laboratory; and 6 young men at "private expense". The first graduation of mining officers took place in 1776.
