PhD, Professor B.A.Mikhailov¹
Associate Professor A.A. Napreenkov²
PhD, Associate Professor А.М. Leontyuk¹
PhD, Associate Professor O.V. Vashchuk^1
1St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg
²St. Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design, St. Petersburg

Keywords: academic sports, sport group, sport financing, higher school.

Background. First attempt to formally establish an academic physical education system was made on December 22, 1901 when the Provisional Organisational Rules for Student Associations at Higher Educational Establishments under Control of the Ministry of People’s Education were put into effect. These Rules, among other things, gave the right to the university management to establish different academic groups including the physical training ones. Before that, in November 1901, the Emperor’s Saint Petersburg University, one of the leaders of the student movement in the country at that time, established a student association with much more liberal rights than those granted by the Provisional Organisational Rules [2]. On November 1 (old style calendar), 1901, Swedish gymnastics and weightlifting groups started their operations at the University under leadership of I.V. Lebedev, student of the Law Department and head of the Weightlifting Association [4]. It was the first academic physical training course in Russia in fact.

In the late 1902 the Peter-the-Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic Institute operated a few leisure-time academic sport facilities, including an ice rink and skiing base. Upon a visit to the University of S.Y. Vitte, Minister of Finance, the government assigned RUB 6000 to the Institute for procurement of two billiards tables, gymnastic apparatuses and some weightlifting equipment and accessories. In 1902–1905 the Polytechnic Institute procured, among other things, a pommel horse, climbing rope, parallel bars, balance beam, dumbbells, bowling alley and the lawn tennis and fencing equipment [8].

Objective of the study was to make a historical analysis of the academic sport provisioning and financing policies and practices in the early 20^th century with the Saint Petersburg State University taken for the case study as a pioneer of the Russian academic sports [7].

Study results and discussion. The initiative of the Saint Petersburg State University management to procure equipment for the academic Swedish gymnastics and weightlifting groups was covered by the municipal press (1902) as follows: “It was due to the efforts of A.H. Golmsten, University Principal, and his great enthusiasm in the new project that the courses were supplied with the training equipment for practices” (N. Orlovskiy, Young People’s Physical Developmnet/ N. Orlovskiy // Samokat – 1902 – June 15 – #431 – PP. 2140–2141).

A formal operational report of the University management as of 1901 reads the following about the practical provisions for the training courses: “Equipment: a set of gymnastics dumbbells; a set of bulldogs; dismountable 6-pood weight; two 2-pood weights; 4 strength-training systems by Drs. Fellan and Sandov; and a wrist training apparatus”. The material provisions for the academic sport groups were persistently improved as verified by the formal University management report as of 1903: “In November the course groups were moved to the more convenient premises of two rooms with a cold shower in one of them. The dumbbell set was complemented by 90-pound bulldogs; stuffed (filled with pellets) 120-pound weight; and two 98- and 100-pound kettlebells; plus the courses enjoy free issues of Sports Magazine”. The courses at that time were run in the rehabilitated cloakroom which nowadays is again used for its design purposes.

An indirect data on the course financing arrangements is obtainable from the Special Cash Flow Statement by the Emperor’s Saint Petersburg University of 1902 (attached to the Minute-book of the Academic Council of 28.01.1902, p. 17). Its article “Remuneration to the non-staff contractors” provides, for instance, remuneration of RUB 600 per year for the gymnastics instructor, with the similar amounts found in the reports of 1903–1904. The same document, for comparison, provided RUB 600 per year for the music teacher; RUB 480 per year for the medical assistant; and RUB 600 per year for the assistant librarian.

The courses had to virtually end up their operations in 1905 when I.V. Lebedev left the University. The University Principal at that time was reluctant to support the academic sports as reported by one of the former students and later on popular public activist I.L. Solonevich: “It was in autumn 1912 that I entered the University and our group of sport enthusiasts was received by the University Principal, Professor Grimm. We wanted him to assign some corner at the University for the sport group; but Professor Grimm was politely firm enough in driving us out saying that the University is not the right place for the circus strongmen to be trained at. We could find no place in the huge University building since then nor funds in its budget for the group. So we had to do without Professor Grimm” [6].

It should be noted that sport groups were quite active at the University by that time. Later on, on September 18, 1908, a maiden meeting of the academic football club was held and, as a result, four academic football teams started up their trainings at the Masonry Island cycle track (where Petrogradskaya Metro Station is located nowadays). The academic football club was chaired by student Y.B. Budzinskiy and was trained hard with an ambitious goal of joining the academic challenger cup competitions. Its membership fee was RUB 1 at that time [5]. According to some reports, a team of academic cyclists was trained at the cycle track at the same time.

There are good grounds to assume that the University sport teams and groups at that time were mostly  supported by the modest membership fees of their trainees. In 1908, a sport group of the Peter-the-Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic Institute, for instance, charged the membership fee of RUB 1 per six months [8]. Admission and membership fees of the sport gymnastics group at the Empress Ekaterina II Mining Institute made up RUB 1 and RUB 0.5, respectively. The academic gymnastics and sport groups at the Emperor Alexander II Saint Petersburg Electrical Engineering Institute charged RUB 1 in its membership fee [1].

As reported by G.D. Kharabuga, the Emperor’s Alexander II Saint Petersburg Electrical Engineering Institute management was successful in getting a subsidy from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the sport group [3]. We found a few archive documents including an application of the Weightlifting Sport Group of the Emperor’s Saint Petersburg University of June 20, 1912 to the Ministry of People’s Education (ЦГИА СПб. Ф. 139. Оп. 1. Д. 10869. Л. 266) that resulted is a modest financial support to the sporting students from the relevant government agency. The following two letters appear to be of special research interest.

 The first letter #2576 of September 27, 1912 printed on the formal blank form of the Emperor’s Saint Petersburg University and addressed to His Excellency Warden of the Saint Petersburg Education District reads the following: “Please find attached hereto the Proposal of the People’ Education Department #24606 of June 20, 1912. We have the honour to report to Your Excellency that the Athletics Sport Group of the Emperor’s Saint Petersburg University, upon its establishment, applied to the University management for a support, but no support was grante due to the shortage of finance, albeit the available weightlifting equipment and accessories were handed over to the group. As for its activity, there are 153 formal members reported at the group at present; with the group training sessions taking place at the dedicated space assigned by the University Board only at business days 4 to 6 p.m. In addition, the Athletics Sport Group was granted a free access to the Palma Gymnastic Society facilities till September 26, 1912 where it run trainings in track and field sports. Signed by the University Principal (ЦГИА СПб. Ф. 139. Оп. 1. Д. 10869. Л. 270).

The second letter in response to the above was written by the Ministry of People’s Education (Letter #51565 of December 22, 1912 from the Second Office in Charge of the Higher Education Establishments) to His Excellency Warden of the Saint Petersburg Education District and reads the following: “I am pleased to inform Your Excellency that, having agreed the issue with the Ministry of Finance, I found it appropriate to assign a lump sum of RUB 1000 (one thousand) for procurement of gymnastics equipment and accessories for the academic Athletics Sport Group at the Emperor’s Saint Petersburg University, with the amount accounted with the balance of loans in the last-year budget... Signed by the Acting Minister” (ЦГИА СПб. Ф. 139. Оп. 1. Д. 10869. Л. 273). This decision was reported on January 10, 1913 at the University Board meeting as verified by the relevant record.

The above facts demonstrate that the relevant ministerial officers were quite often supportive of the academic sporting and gymnastics initiatives considering them healthy and constructive leisure-time activities albeit were reasonably conservative in attitudes to the academic associations on the whole viewing them as potentially dangerous clusters of revolutionary youth.

Conclusion. The study offers additional historical data on the academic sports provisioning and financing policies and practices by the metropolitan agencies on the whole and the University management in particular.

References

1. Shaskovsky A.P. Ves Petrogradna 1915 god: Adresnaya i spravochnaya kniga G. Petrograda: 22-y god izdaniya [All Petrograd 1915: Address and reference book of G. Petrograd: the 22nd year of publication]. Petrograd: Novoe vremya publ., 1914, 1424 p.
2. Zavyalov D.A. Vremennye pravila organizatsii studencheskikh uchrezhdeniy [Temporary rules for organization of student institutions]. December 22, 1901. Clio: Scientists' Journal, St. Petersburg: Nestor publ., 2006, no. 1 (32), pp. 105–111.
3. Sinitsyn S.D. Istoriya fizicheskoy kultury narodov SSSR: T. I. [History of Physical Culture of the Peoples of the USSR: Vol. I]. Moscow: Fizkultura i sport publ., 1953, 160 p.
4. Mikhaylov B.A., Namozova S.Sh. Istoki razvitiya studencheskogo sporta v vuzakh Rossii i Sankt-Peterburga v nachale XX veka [The origins of development of academic sports in universities of Russia and St. Petersburg in the early XX century]. Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury, 2014, no. 12, pp. 18–21.
5. Smirnov V.N. Iz istorii razvitiya sporta v Peterburgskom universitete. 1908–1917 gg.(po materialam russkoy dorevolyutsionnoy sportivnoy pechati) [From the history of development of sport in St. Petersburg University. 1908-1917 (based on the materials of Russian pre-revolutionary sports press)]. Voprosy fizicheskogo vospitaniya studentov: mezhvuzovskiy sb. [Questions of physical education of students: interuniversity col.] no. XXIII. St. Petersburg: SPbSU publ., 1992, pp. 131–139.
6. Solonevich I.L. Mirovaya revolyutsiya, ili Novoe izgnanie iz raya [World Revolution, or New expulsion from Paradise]. Moscow: "Moscow" journal publ., 2006, 480 p.
7. Sunik A.B. Rossiyskoe sportivnoe i olimpiyskoe dvizhenie na rubezhe XIX–XX vekov: 2-e izd., ispr. i dop. [Russian sports and Olympic movement at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries: 2nd ed., rev. and sup.]. Moscow: Sovetskiy sport publ., 2004, 764 p.
8. Suschenko V.P., Napreenkov A.A. 105 let studencheskomu sportu v Sankt-Peterburgskom gosudarstvennom politekhnicheskom universitete [105th Anniversary of University Sport in Saint-Petersburg State Polytechnic University]. Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury, 2015, no. 2, pp. 3–5.

Subject to the study are national academic sports provisioning and financing practices in the early 20th century with Saint Petersburg State University taken for the case study. The available historical accounts of the physical education process at the Russian education system provide scarce information on the equipment and facilities for the academic sports. Of special interest are the reports on the material and financial provisions for the academic sports at the Saint Petersburg State University that pioneered in introducing back in 1901 Swedish gymnastics and weightlifting courses followed by other sport groups and teams. The university management did their best to provide the sport enthusiasts with due equipment; provided dedicated spaces for the training sessions; took on lease sport grounds for the athletes; and in 1902-1904 contracted a gymnastics trainer as a course manager. Later on the university management was largely disinterested in the academic sports albeit the Ministry of People’s Education still assigned RUB1000 in 1912 for the academic sports at the university.