One of the oldest Russian institutions of higher education, Moscow University was established in 1755. In 1940 it was named after Academician Mikhail Lomonosov (1711 - 1765), an outstanding Russian scientist, who considerably contributed to the establishment of the university in Moscow.

Mikhail Lomonosov was one of the intellectual titans of the 18^th century. The prominent Russian poet Alexander Pushkin described him as a person of formidable willpower and keen scientific mind, whose lifelong passion was learning. The interests of Lomonosov ranged from history, rhetoric, art and poetry to mechanics, chemistry, mineralogy. His activity is a manifestation of the enormous potential of the Russian scientific community whose representatives occupied the leading positions in the world at the time. Peter I reformed Russia, which allowed the country reach the standards of the contemporary European states in many spheres. Great importance was placed on education. In 1724, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, founded by Peter I, established a university and a grammar school to educate intellectuals and researchers the country needed; however, these educational establishments did not fulfil the task they took on. It was Mikhail Lomonosov that suggested, in his letter to Count Shuvalov, the idea of establishing a university in Moscow. An influential person Count Ivan Shuvalov was a patron of the arts and science; he supported the plans of Lomonosov for a new university and presented them to the Empress.

In 1755, on January 25, St. Tatiana's Day according to the Russian Orthodox Church calendar, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna signed the decree that a university should be founded in Moscow. The opening ceremony took place on April 26, when the coronation day of Elizaveta Petrovna was celebrated. Since 1755, January 25 and April 25 are marked by special events and festivities at Moscow University; the annual conference where students present results of their research work is traditionally held in April.

According to the project of Lomonosov, there were originally three faculties. Primarily all students acquired a comprehensive education in the sphere of science and humanities at the Faculty of Philosophy; then they could specialize and continue at the Faculty of Philosophy or join either the Law Faculty or The Faculty of Medicine. Lectures were given either in Latin, the language of educated people at the time, or in Russian. Unlike European Universities, Moscow University did not have the Faculty of Theology, since Russia had special theological education establishments.

From the very beginning elitism was alien to the very spirit of the University community, which determined the long-standing democratic tradition of Moscow University. The Decree that Elizaveta Petrovna signed, stated in its preamble that the university was to educate commoners; only serfs were not admitted. Lomonosov himself pointed out that in European universities, the academic achievements of a student mattered, not his social standing or family background. In the late 18^th century there were only three noblemen were among 26 professors in Moscow University, most of the students were commoners too. The best students had opportunity to continue their education abroad, sine Moscow University established contacts with the international scientific community.

Originally tuition in Moscow University was free for everybody, later only students from the poor families were exempt from tuition fees. The state subventions did not cover all the University expenses; thus the administration had to find ways to raise additional funds. The University was partly financed by its patrons, who donated laboratory equipment, books, various collections and established scholarships for students. Many times University alumni supported their alma mater fell on hard times raising money by public subscriptions.

Moscow University played an outstanding role in popularizing science and education in Russia by organising public lectures. Book publishing in Russia started in 1756, when a printing house and a bookshop were opened in the campus; printing of one of the first Russian newspapers “Moskovskie Vedomosti” (Moscow Gazette) started there. Since 1760, the first Moscow literary periodical “Poleznoe Uveselenie” (Useful Entertainment) was also published at the University printing house. For over a century, since 1756, the University library was the only Public library in Moscow.

Professors of Moscow University contributed to establishing new cultural centres in Moscow and through the country – the grammar school and later a university in Kazan, the Fine Arts Academy in St. Petersburg, the Maly Theatre in Moscow, to name just a few. In the 19^th century the first scientific societies, uniting naturalists, historians and philologists, were founded at the University.

The combination of the educational, scientific and cultural tasks in the activities of the Moscow University turned it, as Alexander Herzen put it, into “the center of Russian education” and one of the centers of world culture.

On the cover: Young Lomonosov. Statuette. Kotov I.K., 1950