Ivan Delianov

Born Nov. 30 (Dec. 12), 1818, in Moscow; died Dec. 29, 1897 (Jan. 10, 1898), in St. Petersburg. Russian statesman of the 1880’s; count (1888); a member of the dvorianstvo (nobility or gentry).

Delianov graduated from the juridical department of Moscow University in 1838. From 1857 to 1897 he occupied important government posts. In 1874 he became a member of the State Council. From 1861 to 1882 he was the director of the Imperial Public Library (now the Saltykov-Shchedrin Library). From 1882 to 1897 he was minister of education.

Under Delianov, a new university statute was introduced in 1884, depriving the universities of their autonomy; higher education courses for women were eliminated in 1886. Delianov published a circular on June 18, 1887, that limited the admission of children who were not of dvorianstvo birth into the Gymnasia and that refused to admit “children of coachmen, laundresses, small shopkeepers, etc.” into secondary educational institutions. A quota was established on the number of Jews that could be admitted to educational institutions. In the schools for national minorities, a Russification program was instituted.