Holidays of Russia - Birthday of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov

January 25 marks the birthday of Moscow State University named after MV Lomonosov University, which is rightfully considered the oldest in Russia 1755 was the year of foundation of this higher educational institution “The fairy tale became reality” largely thanks to the activities of the first Russian academician Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov Only in 1940, when the university celebrated its 185th anniversary, it was named after MV Lomonosov Historian, chemist, mechanic, poet, philologist, artist, mineralogist, owner of an incredibly inquisitive mind and amazing willpower that pushed him forward to new knowledge Mikhail Yuryevich Lomonosov became a real titan of not only Russian, but also world science of that time “He experienced everything and penetrated everything,” Pushkin wrote about him Lomonosov was a diversified creative personality Coming from the “lower classes” of Russian society, he sacrificed his entire life on the altar of science Lomonosov was born in Pomorie He possessed remarkable physical strength, but one thing distinguished him from the rest - an incredible thirst for knowledge It was she who pushed him to make an incredible journey on foot with a fish train from his native land to Moscow, where the future academician wanted to study The thirst for knowledge determined his future fate At that time, the Russian state needed specialists in the development of natural resources, which the country was so rich in Lomonosov got a chance to study in Germany, and after an internship he returned to his homeland, where he was to make a revolution He made an invaluable contribution to the development of astronomy, history, philology, chemistry, geography, and geology He studied the nature of lightning and the northern lights, the origin of oil and coal, and the physical characteristics of celestial bodies Lomonosov persistently sought a solution to Russia's demographic problem, compiled a classification of ice, and developed Russian technical and scientific terminology It was only thanks to him that the domestic scientific world began to speak its native language He has many more great achievements to his credit, which could be listed for a very long time A great worker, the first Russian academician inspired several subsequent generations of outstanding Russian scientists who wrote the name of their Alma Mater into history His gigantic figure stands at the origins of Russian science Even several centuries later, the scale of the work that this man did seems unimaginable to his contemporaries Lomonosov's activities reflected the successes of the state, which, after the reforms of Peter the Great, managed to become one of the leading powers of that time Mikhail Yuryevich understood perfectly well that the first step towards strengthening Russian science could only be the creation of a strong system of higher education In 1724, a gymnasium and a university were established at the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences, which was founded by Peter I According to the plans, they were supposed to train scientific personnel Unfortunately, these institutions failed to cope with the task, which forced Lomonosov to insist on opening a university in Moscow He put forward a number of proposals and sent them in a letter addressed to Shuvalov Being a favorite of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, he was endowed with considerable power and used his influence to promote Russian culture and science The proposals of the luminary of Russian science formed the basis of Shuvalov’s large-scale project to create a new educational institution When the favorite presented this document to the Empress, she approved it by signing it on St Tatiana's Day - January 12 (25 New Style), 1755 Already on April 26, the grand opening ceremony of Moscow University took place, which at that time had three faculties - philosophy, medicine and law Since then, on these days, the educational institution annually hosts student celebrations and the famous scientific conference “Lomonosov Readings”