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The University of Tartu is the national university of Estonia, the only classical university in Estonia, seated in Tartu. Founded in 1632 by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, it bore the names of Academia Gustaviana (Carolina), University of Dorpat ((Kaiserliche) Universität (zu) Dorpat), University of Yuryev/Jurjev, and finally, in Estonian, Tartu (Riiklik) Ülikool.

History

Founded by the Swedes as part of their colonial policy in just-conquered Livonia, the Academia Gustaviana was the the second university founded in Sweden, following Uppsala University. A precursor to the academy had been a Jesuit grammar school, existing between 1583 and 1601 when Tartu (Dorpat) was under Polish rule. Struggling until 1710 and being removed to Pärnu in the end, the university was refounded in 1802 by order of the at that time reform-minded Emperor Alexander I of Russia, to which Livonia then belonged, as Dorpat.

The language of instruction at Dorpat was German between 1802 and 1893. During that time, Dorpat had a dual nature in that it belonged both into the set of German(-language) and Russian universities. Financially and administratively, the latter was more important; intellectually and regarding the professoriate, the former (over half the professors came from Germany, another third at least were German Balts). In fact, among the 30 German-language universities, of which 23 were inside the German Empire, Dorpat was the 11th in size. In teaching, the university educated the local Baltic-German leadership and professional classes, as well as personnel especially for the administration and health system of the entire Russian Empire. In scholarship, this was an international university; the time between 1860 and 1880 is the "golden age".

The freedom to be a half-German university ceased with the rise of nationalist tendencies in Russia, which held homogenization more important than retaining one university on the international level within the Empire. Between 1882 and 1898, Russification in language, appointments, etc. was imposed, with some exceptions (such as the Divinity School, which was feared to teach dangerous Protestant views by the Orhodox clergy and thus was allowed to continue in German until 1916). In 1898, the university was renamed Jurjev; by then, virtually all distinguished scholars from the German Empire had left. The University of Yuryev existed until 1918, when during part of the Fall Term, it was reopened, under German occupation, as Dorpat.

In 1919, the University of Tartu was established as an Estonian institution; it stayed open until 1940. In 1940, it became Soviet, and 1941-44, it was again under German occupation and thus again called Dorpat. Since 1944, it has been the University of Tartu (1940-1941 and 1944-1989 "Tartu State University"). During the second period of Russian (Soviet) occupation (1944-1991), Estonian was the principal language of instruction, although some courses were taught in Russian, and there were several Russian curricula. To a lesser degree, this is still true today, after regaining of Estonian national independence. The full regaining of academic autonomy of the University can be dated to 1992.

University of Tartu faculty listed on wikipedia:

• Jüri Allik, psychologist
• Karl Bücher, economist and anthropologist
• Wolfgang Drechsler, public administration scholar and political philosopher
• Jaan Einasto, astrophysicist
• Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, biologist and explorer
• Gustav von Ewers, legal historian
• Lazar Gulkowitsch, Jewish Studies scholar
• Theodosius Harnack, theologian
• Siim Kallas, politician and economist
• Emil Kraepelin, psychologist
• Jaan Kross, writer
• Etienne Laspeyres, economist and statistician
• Wilhelm Lexis, economist, insurance scholar
• Yuri Lotman, semiotician
• Alexander von Oettingen, theologian, famous as statistics theoretician
• Wilhelm Ostwald (Nobel Prize in Chemistry)
• Ludwig Preller, philologist and antiquarian
• Matthias Jakob Schleiden, botanist
• Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, astronomer
• Rein Taagepera, political scientist
• Grigol Tsereteli, classicist and papyrologist
• Adolph Wagner, economist and social policy scholar

University of Tartu students listed on wikipedia:

• Karl Ernst von Baer, zoologist and embryologist
• Anton Hansen Tammsaare, writer
• Adolf von Harnack, theologian and science administrator
• Nicolai Hartmann, philosopher
• Paul Keres, chess player
• Alberts Kviesis, Latvian statesman
• Heinrich Friedrich Emil Lenz, physicist
• Lennart Meri, statesman
• Leo Michelson, painter
• Juhan Parts, politician
• Grigol Robakidze, Georgian writer
• Otto Strandman, statesman
• Valentin Tomberg, "mystic" and "magician"

University of Tartu honorary doctors listed on wikipedia:

• Umberto Eco, semiotician and novelist
• Otto Kaiser, theologian
• Arvo Pärt, composer

Bibliography

• Alma Mater Tartuensis (1632-1982) (1982). Tullio Ilomets and Hillar Palamets, eds. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat.
• Engelhardt, Roderich v. (1933): Die Deutsche Universität Dorpat in ihrer geistesgeschichtlichen Bedeutung. München: Ernst Reinhardt.
• Semel, Hugo, ed. (1918): Die Universität Dorpat (1802-1918) Dorpat: Laakmann.

External links

• University of Tartu homepage