5 little-known historical facts about the Moscow State University

1. The university's first building was on the Red Square

Elizaveta Petrovna signed a decree on establishing the Moscow State University on January 25, 1755. The building of the Zemsky Prikaz (Land Office) on the Red Square was transferred to it and then, in 1793, the university moved into its own building on Mokhovaya Street. The old structure burned down in the fire of 1812. Today, the State Historical Museum occupies this site.

2. Lomonosov's name was not mentioned at the opening

The idea for creating the university was proposed by scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, but his name did not appear in the decrees and speeches at the opening. The curator of the project was Ivan Shuvalov, the favorite of the empress. Moscow State University began to bear Lomonosov's name only in 1940, when the university was already 185 years old.

3. Students began their studies at the Faculty of Philosophy

According to Lomonosov's plan, students would receive a fundamental base at the Faculty of Philosophy and then move on to the Faculties of Law or Medicine. In the first year, they studied for free and then, only gifted students were exempted from tuition fees. In the 19th century, students chose their specialization immediately upon entry.

4. The Bolshoi Theater grew out of the MSU student theater

The student theater of Moscow State University is the oldest theater in the capital. The first performance was staged in 1756. The troupe, created by Mikhail Kheraskov, later became the foundation for the theater of the St. Petersburg impresario Michael Maddox on Petrovka Street, from which the Bolshoi Theater traces its origins.

5. Beneath the Main Building on Vorobyovy Gory is a system of tunnels

Legends about the underground part of MSU have circulated for a long time. Some assume that a secret subway line ran underneath, while others believed an entire underground city was hidden there.

Tunnels and rooms do, indeed, exist under the university. In Soviet times, this space housed laboratories, an electrical substation, boiler rooms, a pumping station and even a bomb shelter.

Read the full version of the text in Russian on the Culture.Ru website.