Ivan Melissino
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Ivan Melissino | |
|---|---|
Иван Иванович Мелиссино | |
| 2nd Director of Moscow University | |
| In office 18 April 1757 – 10 July 1763 | |
| Preceded by | Alexei Argamakov |
| Succeeded by | Fyodor Khitrovo |
| Curator of Moscow University | |
| In office 1 January 1771 – 23 March 1795 | |
| Preceded by | Ivan Shuvalov |
| Succeeded by | Mikhail Kheraskov |
| Ober-Procurator of the Holy Synod | |
| In office 1763–1768 | |
| Preceded by | Aleksei Kozlovsky |
| Succeeded by | Pyotr Chebyshyov |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1718 Riga, Duchy of Courland and Semigallia |
| Died | 23 March 1795 (O.S.)[lower-alpha 1] Moscow, Russian Empire |
| Spouse(s) | Princess Praskovya Vladimirovna Dolgorukaya |
| Education | Land Noble Cadet Corps |
| Occupation | Civil servant, university administrator |
| Awards | Order of St. Anna, 1st class |
Ivan Ivanovich Melissino (Иван Иванович Мелиссино; 1718 – 23 March [O.S.] 1795) was a Russian civil servant and figure of the Russian Enlightenment, a member of the Melissino family of Greek origin. He served as director of Moscow University (1757–1763), as Ober-Procurator of the Most Holy Synod (1763–1768), and subsequently as curator of Moscow University from 1771 until his death in 1795.[1][2]
Early life and education
Melissino was born in 1718 in Riga, then part of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia.[1] He was educated at the Land Noble Cadet Corps (Сухопутный шляхетский кадетский корпус), graduating in 1740 with an officer's commission, and entered civil service thereafter.[1][2]
Director of Moscow University
On the recommendation of the university's curator, Ivan Shuvalov, Melissino was appointed by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna as director of Moscow University on 18 April 1757, succeeding Alexei Argamakov, whose sudden death had left the university's finances and administrative affairs unresolved.[2][1] Melissino maintained a steady correspondence with Shuvalov as the government worked to integrate the newly founded university into the existing system of state institutions.[1]
During his tenure, a series of decrees affecting the university were issued, including measures allowing the university, alongside the Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg, to examine and certify foreign nationals seeking work as private tutors (5 May 1757); regulating the procedure for initiating court proceedings against members of the university community (22 December 1757); and confirming the service privileges of noble students who obtained certificates of academic achievement (20 March 1758).[1] He secured an increase in the university's annual state funding from 10,000 to 35,000 roubles, and the university's Conference began work on a draft charter in 1760.[1] The first visit by Kirill Razumovsky, president of the Academy of Sciences, took place in November 1761, beginning a period of cooperation between the two institutions.[1]
Melissino, with Shuvalov's support, arranged for the university gymnasium's best pupils to be presented to Empress Elizabeth in Saint Petersburg in June 1757, and to Mikhail Lomonosov in December 1759.[1] An art class was opened at the gymnasium for commoners, forming the basis of what later became the Imperial Academy of Arts, then housed at Shuvalov's Saint Petersburg residence and affiliated with the university (1757–1764); a theatre class was also established, seen as an origin of Moscow's theatrical tradition, including the later Maly Theatre.[1] In 1758, foreign professors recruited by Shuvalov arrived in Moscow, completing the university's teaching staff and allowing the law and medical faculties to open; the following year saw the first gymnasium graduates formally promoted to student status.[1] Melissino also arranged for some of the university's first students to be sent abroad to accelerate the formation of a native Russian professoriate.[1] The university press became active during this period, publishing Russia's first Moscow-based literary journal, Poleznoye Uveseleniye, followed by Svobodnye Chasy (1760–1763) under Mikhail Kheraskov, as well as a two-volume edition of the works of Lomonosov (1757–1759).[1] At Melissino's initiative, the university's Conference took up in 1759 the question of an educational library and the commissioning of Russian-language textbooks of arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry and algebra, which remained in use through the end of the 18th century.[1] He is also credited with first proposing the establishment of a university house church.[2]
Ober-Procurator of the Holy Synod
In 1763, Melissino left the university to become Ober-Procurator of the Most Holy Governing Synod, a post he held until 1768, when he was dismissed and granted the rank of privy councillor.[3][2] He was subsequently appointed a guardian of the Moscow Foundling Home, serving as an assistant to Ivan Betskoy from around 1768 to 1770.[2][3]
Curator of Moscow University
At his own request, Melissino was appointed by Empress Catherine II on 1 January 1771 as curator of Moscow University, a position he held for the rest of his life.[citation needed] In the summer of 1771 he founded the Free Russian Assembly (Вольное российское собрание), a literary society dedicated to enriching the Russian language through the publication of useful works and translations and the collection of Old Russian and historical sources; Melissino was elected its chairman, and its permanent secretary, Anton Barsov, edited six volumes of the society's proceedings between 1774 and 1783.[1] Together with Mikhail Kheraskov, he founded the university's Noble Boarding School (Благородный пансион) in 1771.[2] He was elected a member of the Russian Academy in 1783 and worked to involve Moscow scholars in the Academy's compilation of an academic dictionary.[2]
In June 1778, Melissino received permission to travel abroad while retaining the title of curator, with Kheraskov standing in for him; he returned to Russia on 21 February 1782.[citation needed] On his return, he expressed disapproval of the spread of "Martinism" (a mystical strand of Freemasonry) at the university and dismissed the lecturer Johann Georg Schwarz, a Freemason and Martinist, with whose views he disagreed.[1] He petitioned for the appointment of Hieromonk Viktor (Vasily Prokopovich-Antonsky) as the first rector of the university's new house church of Saint Tatiana in 1791.[1] He also founded a Society of Lovers of Russian Learning intended to promote the sciences in Russia, though Empress Catherine II withheld permission for its continued activity and it ceased meeting after two sessions in 1789.[1]
Melissino died in Moscow on 23 March (3 April) 1795.[1][3]
Personal life
Melissino was married to Princess Praskovya Vladimirovna Dolgorukaya; the couple had no children.[3] He was appointed to the Order of St. Anna, 1st class.[citation needed] He is remembered for the remark: "He who grows rich in the sciences but poor in morality loses more than he gains."[1]
Notes
- ↑ 3 April 1795 in the Gregorian calendar.
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 "ЭС: И.И.Мелиссино" (in русский). Moscow University Chronicle (letopis.msu.ru). Retrieved 10 September 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 "Мелиссино Иван Иванович" (in русский). Древо (Drevo Open Orthodox Encyclopedia). Retrieved 10 September 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Мелиссино Иван Иванович" (in русский). Medalirus.ru. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
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