ROUND TABLE. Towards the 300th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Princess E.R. Dashkova: Service to Russian science and education.

Abstract

2023 marks the 280th anniversary of the birth of Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, an associate of Catherine II. The report is devoted to the outstanding activity of E.R. Dashkova at the head of two academies - the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy. The latter was created on the initiative of Dashkova for the development and prosperity of Russian literature and the transformation of the Russian language into one of the great ones in Europe. The nomination of E.R. Dashkova's role as the head of two academies was preceded by a trip abroad and life in Europe, during which she got acquainted with culture and art, science and education, economics and politics - France and Germany, Belgium and Holland, England and Scotland, Switzerland and Italy. Not being a diplomat, in fact, for foreigners, she personified Russia with the policy of enlightened absolutism pursued by the Russian Empress. This was facilitated by her brilliant education, encyclopedia, fluency in French and German, English and Italian. She is a writer and translator, a poet and a high connoisseur of painting and architecture, theater and music. Therefore, it is not surprising that her interlocutors were the largest representatives of the Enlightenment, scientists and philosophers, public figures and heads of state. E.R. Dashkova was received with honor by F.-M.-A. Voltaire and D. Diderot, J.L. D'Alembert and B. Franklin, A. Ferguson and W. Robertson, D. Black, A. Smith and J. Locke, King Frederick II of Prussia, Austrian Chancellor V.A. Kaunitz, Joseph II and Pope Pius VI. In the report, as vivid examples of the scientific, educational, publishing, and administrative and economic activities of the Academy, fragments of the reports of E.R. Dashkova - Catherine the Great. Including, the organization of public lectures of academicians in mathematics, physics, mineralogy, and natural history, the publication of the first in Russia six-volume, explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Academy, the complete works of M.V. Lomonosov, the establishment of a whole department of translators of the best works of world literature, the publication of the magazines Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word, New Monthly Works and the collection Russian Theater and others. The prestige of Russian academies, 12 years led by E.R. Dashkova, both within the country and abroad, has grown immeasurably. Ekaterina Romanovna became a member of the American Philosophical Society, the Berlin Society of Natural History, the Irish Royal and Royal Stockholm Academies.
In conclusion of the report, after the vivid statements of A.I. Herzen and A.S. Pushkin about Dashkova, Ekaterina Romanovna's deep thoughts about the education of youth and the enlightenment of the mind and heart in the light of traditional, spiritual values and love for Russia are presented.

Speaker

Boris A. Medvedev
Saratov State University
Russia

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