The Jesuit College in Polotsk ( lat, Collegium Polocense) was a

college A college ( Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

established by the

Jesuit Order , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

Polotsk Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Dist ...

, then part of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lit ...

and later occupied by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, and now in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

. It was established in 1580 and continued to function until 1820 when Jesuits were banished from the Russian Empire.

History

Polish King

Stephen Báthory Stephen Báthory ( hu, Báthory István; pl, Stefan Batory; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576), Prince of Transylvania (1576–1586), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1 ...

captured Polotsk in 1579 during the

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) was the Russian invasion of Old Livonia, and the prolonged series of military conflicts that followed, in which Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia (Muscovy) unsuccessfully fought for control of the region (pre ...

and invited

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

to the city in hopes to lessen the influence of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

. The Jesuits established a college (equivalent to a secondary school), modeled after the

Jesuit Academy in Vilnius Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgo ...

, in 1580. Its first rector was

Piotr Skarga Piotr Skarga (less often Piotr Powęski; 2 February 1536 – 27 September 1612) was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-Reformation in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Due to his orato ...

. A faculty of philosophy was added in 1649 and a faculty of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

in 1737. After the first partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772, Polotsk became part of the

. That saved the college from the

suppression of the Jesuits The suppression of the Jesuits was the removal of all members of the Society of Jesus from most of the countries of Western Europe and their colonies beginning in 1759, and the abolishment of the order by the Holy See in 1773. The Jesuits we ...

as Russian Empress Catherine the Great did not follow papal decrees. After lobbying by

Joseph de Maistre Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre (; 1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821) was a Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, and diplomat who advocated social hierarchy and monarchy in the period immediately following the French Revolution. Despite his clos ...

, the college was elevated to an academy (equivalent to a university) in 1812 by Tsar

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son of Gra ...

only to be closed eight years later when Alexander I banished the Jesuits from the Russian Empire and closed their schools. Academy's library, which held up to 60,000 volumes, was dispersed among various institutions in Eastern Europe. The

Polotsk State University Saint Euphrosyne Polotsk State University ( be, Полацкі дзяржаўны ўніверсітэт імя Ефрасінні Полацкай; russian: Полоцкий государственный университет имени Ев� ...

and the

Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Warsaw A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy O ...

, established in 1998, both claim historical heritage of the Polotsk College. In 2005, former buildings of the college were partially reconstructed and transferred to the

.Учреждение образования «Полоцкий государственный университет»

Notable faculty

* Very Rev.

Franciszek Kareu Franciszek Kareu (10 December 1731, Orsza – 11 August 1802, Polotsk) was a Polish-British Jesuit priest, missionary and teacher in the region of modern day Belarus. He was elected Temporary Vicar General of the Society of Jesus in Russia from ...

Gabriel Gruber Gabriel Gruber, S.J. (May 6, 1740 – April 7, 1805) was the second Superior General of the Society of Jesus in Russia. Early years and education Gabriel Gruber, born in Vienna, became a Jesuit at the young age of 15, in 1755 and did most of ...

Stanislaus Czerniewicz Stanislaw Czerniewicz (15 August 1728 in Kaunas – 7 July 1785) was a Lithuanian-Polish Jesuit priest. He was Rector of the Jesuit College in Polotsk when the Society of Jesus was suppressed in 1773; in 1782, he was elected vicar general for th ...

Gabriel Lenkiewicz Gabriel Lenkiewicz, actually Gabriel Lenkiewicz-Ipohorski, Kotwicz coat of arms, (15 March 1722, Polotsk – 21 November 1798, Polotsk) was a Polish-Lithuanian Jesuit priest, and ''Temporary Vicar General'' of the Society of Jesus from 1785 until 1 ...

Adam Krupski Adam Krupski ( pl, Adam Krupski, be, Адам Крупскі; July 7, 1706 – March 8, 1748) was a professor of philosophy and Jesuit priest in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Legal expert in the legislation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, auth ...

Notable alumni

Stanisław Czerski Stanislaw Czerski (October 10, 1777 in Latgale, Latvia – April 30, 1833 in Varniai, Lithuania) was a Polish Jesuit priest, graphic artist, and translator. Czerski attended Polatsk Jesuit College. In 1794, he became a regular Jesuit, in 1807, a ...

, priest, graphic artist, translator *

Giovanni Antonio Grassi Giovanni Antonio Grassi (anglicized as John Anthony Grassi; 10 September 1775 – 12 December 1849) was an Italian Catholic priest and Jesuit who led many academic and religious institutions in Europe and the United States, including George ...

, academic administrator and president of

Georgetown College Georgetown College is a private Christian college in Georgetown, Kentucky. Chartered in 1829, Georgetown was the first Baptist college west of the Appalachian Mountains. The college offers 38 undergraduate degrees and a Master of Arts in educa ...

Jan Roothaan Jan Philipp Roothaan (23 November 1785 – 8 May 1853) was a Dutch Jesuit, elected twenty-first Superior-General of the Society of Jesus. Early life and formation He was born to a once-Calvinist family emigrated from Frankfurt to Amsterdam, wher ...

, Jesuit Superior General *

Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy Count Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy (russian: Фёдор Петрович Толстой; 21 February 1783 – 25 April 1873) was a Russian artist who served as Vice-President of the Imperial Academy of Arts for forty years (1828–1868). His wo ...

, artist *

Walenty Wańkowicz Walenty Wilhelm Wańkowicz ( lt, Valentinas Vankavičius, be, Валенты Ваньковіч; February 14, 1799 in Kałużyce - May 12, 1842 in Paris) was a Polish painter of Belarusian origin. He studied at the Jesuit College in Polotsk, ...

, painter

References

{{Coord, 55, 29, 10, N, 28, 45, 51, E, region:BY_type:edu, display=title 1580 establishments 1580 establishments in Europe 1820 disestablishments

* * Universities and colleges in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Polotsk Defunct schools in Poland Education in Belarus Educational organizations based in Belarus Former universities and colleges of Jesuits

History

Notable faculty

Notable alumni

See also

References