St Petersburg Theological Academy marks 80 years since reopening
St Petersburg Theological Academy marked 80 years since its reopening in 1946 on October 14. Governor Alexander Beglov and Metropolitan Varsonofy of St Petersburg and Ladoga attended the celebrations.
Archpriest Dimitry Sizonenko read a congratulatory message from Patriarch Kirill. Beglov presented the academy with an icon of St John the Theologian in Silence and described the institution as a centre of national memory and culture.
The anniversary year saw the first intake for two master’s programmes, Byzantine Christian Literature and Church Singing Art. The academy currently has 706 students, including 312 studying full-time and 394 through distance study.
Its courses include bachelor’s, master’s and postgraduate studies. It also has a church arts faculty with choral conducting and icon-painting departments, and a faculty for international students. Its library holds more than 500,000 books.
The academy traces its origins to a Slavic school established in 1721. It became a Slavic-Greek-Latin seminary in 1726 and the Alexander Nevsky Academy in 1797. The city’s theological schools closed in autumn 1918.
The Leningrad theological academy and seminary formally reopened on October 14, 1946, with Patriarch Alexy I present. The current anniversary commemorates that reopening rather than the institution’s original foundation.
Its alumni include John of Kronstadt, Nicholas of Japan, Patriarch Tikhon, Alexy II and Kirill. Beglov recalled Kirill’s service as rector of the Leningrad theological schools and the opening of a choral conducting class admitting women on his initiative in 1979.
The governor also highlighted the academy’s contribution to the Russian translation of the Bible and the training of historians, philologists and theologians. His congratulations set out his assessment of its continuing role in preserving traditions.
