St. Petersburg Polytechnic University awards diploma of Honourable Doctor of SPbSPU to Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad

On September 3, 2008 at the session of the scientific council of St. Petersburg Polytechnic University Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations, was awarded the diploma of Honourable Doctor of SPbSPU for a considerable contribution to reviving the best traditions of spiritual and moral education and upbringing of the young generation. The order was presented by the university rector M. Fedorov.

Metropolitan Kirill thanked the scientific council for the award. In his reply speech he touched on the vital theme of human dignity, freedom and rights in the modern world. The Metropolitan presented the Kazan Mother of God icon and some books as a gift to the university.

St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, better known in Russia and outside of it as the Polytechnic Institute, was founded at the beginning of 1899.

Among its founding fathers are such eminent Russian statesmen as Minister of Finance S. Vitte, director of the department for commerce and manufactures V. Kovalevsky, the chemist D. Mendeleev. Other outstanding Russian scientists were involved in the foundation of a new educational institution (N. Petrov, A. Posnikov, D. Chernov, A. Popov, A. Krilov, V. Kirpichev, A. Lagorio and others). In January of 1900 prince A. Gagarin was appointed head of the institute.

Emerging at the climax of Russia’s economic and cultural prosperity, the Polytechnic Institute soon becomes one of the factors promoting the country’s further successful development. Half a century later the institute will be evaluated not only as a famous institution of higher learning, but also as an important achievement of Russian culture of the early twentieth century.