Russkie studenty v nemetskikh universitetakh XVIII–pervoi poloviny XIX veka, and: Inostrannye guvernantki v Rossii (vtoraia polovina XVIII–pervaia polovina XIX vekov) (review)

These books examine, in very different contexts, foreign influence on Russian education in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Andrei Andreev’s monograph treats the relationship between Russian students and German universities, tracing patterns of attendance over time and drawing wider conclusions about the development of higher education in Russia. Ol′ga Solodiankina’s book, in contrast, explores domestic education and the influence of foreign governesses on pupils, as well as the experience of governesses in Russia. Solodiankina frames her study with cultural theory, focusing in particular on cultural exchange and culture “shock.” Both books are useful additions to the literature, primarily in terms of the wealth of detail about individuals and, in the case of Solodiankina, about sources. They form part of the recent surge in publication on this topic in Russia.¹ Western literature on education in Russia has tended to focus on larger questions of the relationship between, for example, education and state policy, the formation of the intelligentsia, or masculinity.² Although neither of the books under review reworks fundamental questions about Russian education in the 18th and 19th centuries, each eschewing a broad theoretical analysis of the author’s data, both authors have done extensive groundwork in archives and printed sources, providing researchers with excellent resources.

Andreev, in fact, specifically mentions his goal of providing researchers with an accurate record of student attendance at German universities, in order to correct previous reliance on anecdotal examples (9). His book consists of five core chapters on the development of universities in Germany, the earliest Russian students to study there, shifts in attendance in the 18th century, the “golden age” of study abroad between 1760 and 1780, and the development of an ideal of scholarship drawn from the German Enlightenment university. Two detailed appendices and an extensive index of names provide superb reference material for researchers. The absence of a bibliography or sufficiently extensive notes mars the usefulness of the book somewhat; in some cases footnotes, even for direct quotations, are completely missing (for example, 246). However, Andreev’s overall argument, together with detailed statistics on student activity, ensures the book’s significance to the field.

Andreev’s ambition, however, reaches farther than a simple compilation of statistics for researchers and instead encompasses the entire history of Russian students in German universities. Beginning as early as the rule of Boris Godunov, the book’s main focus is the period from Peter I through 1849, when the government of Nicholas I required the return of students from Western Europe in the period of revolutionary upheaval. Andreev is primarily concerned with determining how many students traveled to the German states, their backgrounds, what they studied there, and their subsequent careers in Russia. He relies on statistical analysis based on meticulous collection of data about students from the matriculation books of German universities, supplemented by memoir literature, letters, and other qualitative sources. Andreev is also interested, however, in the development of higher education in Russia, the ways in which the Russian elite came to regard higher education as important, and ultimately the ways in which Russians adopted the model of the German Enlightenment university, in time embracing Russian universities that espoused this ideal.³ Regarding these broader questions, he examines the role of the government in organizing study abroad and the social response of various groups in Russia. He pays close attention to regional and status variations, as well as to the ethnic identity of students. This allows his study to illuminate a number of important points.

Andreev defines Russian students as those from...