On the history of Pyatigorsk people’s university named after M.Y. Lermontov

Introduction. The article studies an urgent and little-studied topic in regional historiography – the history of the establishment and the activities of the Pyatigorsk People’s University named after M.Y. Lermontov (PLPU). Despite the important administrative, spa and cultural role of Pyatigorsk in the North Caucasus region, and the presence of significant intellectual potential, it was only in the spring of 1918 that the Pyatigorsk People’s University named after M.Y. Lermontov was established.
Analysis. The article examines two stages in the activities of Lermontov University: before the occupation of the region by the Armed Forces of Southern Russia under the command of Denikin (May 1918 – January 1919) and after the restoration of the Soviet power on the Terek in the spring of 1920, when the activities of the PLPU (May 1920 – June 1922). The main attention is drawn to the second stage of the history of the educational institution, when it was headed by the well-known figures of education and culture at that time, N.I. Proferansov and N.G. Vinogradov, were people far from the ideas proclaimed by the Bolsheviks. In the future, outstanding figures of science, culture, education, and various professions studied at PLPU, recognizing the special role that Lermontov University played in their lives. In terms of the teaching staff, PLPU surpassed some ordinary universities. However, students who completed the relevant courses were not given educational documents.
Materials and Methods. In the process of working on the topic, the authors applied the principles of objectivity, historicism and a systematic approach. Historical-genetic and historical-comparative methods were used in the preparation of the study. The main attention is paid to the use of materials from the regional periodicals of the time under consideration.
Results. According to the results of the study, the authors concluded that the unification of Lermontov University with Pyatigorsk Polytechnic (which actually meant the liquidation of the People's University) was explained not only by economic reasons, but, above all, by political and ideological ones, since, unlike PLPU, the polytechnic was considered by the authorities as a «purely proletarian educational institution». The authors consider the Pedagogical Institute founded in 1939 in Pyatigorsk, the current Pyatigorsk State University, to be the heir and successor of the Lermontov People’s University.

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