Sergei Semenovich Uvarov

Born Aug. 25 (Sept. 5), 1786, in Moscow; died there Sept. 4 (16), 1855. Russian state figure. Count (1846). Honorary member (1811) and president (1818-55) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Uvarov published a number of works on classical Greek literature and archaeology. From 1811 to 1822 he was head of the St. Petersburg Educational District. He was a member of the Arzamas literary society. During the reign of Nicholas I, Uvarov was one of the leading supporters of the reaction. In 1832 he became deputy minister of public education and in 1833, minister of public education, a post he held until 1849. It was Uvarov who advanced the notorious formula “orthodoxy, autocracy, and nationality, ” which underlay his policies concerning public education. Uvarov sought to limit the educational opportunities of individuals who were not of noble origin and to increase government control over the universities and Gymnasiums. However, it was during Uvarov’s term of office that the foundations for vocational education were laid and the practice of sending scholars abroad was revived.