The Stolypin. Saratov scientific conference was organised at Saratov University. It was dedicated to the 160th anniversary of the birth of Pyotr Stolypin. There was held the Recognition of the achievements of the past on the way to improving the present site.
The event was opened by the Rector of Saratov University Aleksei Chumachenko. ‘The continuity of the transformations of the great reformer and today's changes in our country is always emphasised by Vyacheslav Volodin, who initiated and inspired this conference. In a message read at the plenary session, Vyacheslav Volodin underlined the significant role of the scientific community of the region and said that we need to learn a lot about Stolypin and his reforms. Saratov University has already made serious efforts: thanks to the history professors who worked in the archives and gained the information for the conference website. Surely, this work will be continued.’
Yurii Varfolomeyev, Professor of the Department of Russian History and Archaeology, the Institute of History and International Relations, gave a lecture on the historical aspect of Pyotr Stolypin's role in the history of the Russian state titled They Need Great Upheavals, We Need Great Russia!.
In his report, Yurii Varfolomeyev compared the views of different historians on Stolypin’s reforms and personality as well as commented on the significance of the reforms he carried out and the period of his work as the Prime Minister. The speaker also drew attention to Stolypin’s role in the foundation of Imperial University in Saratov and quoted the words of the reformer. ‘I stand for the university because Saratov, culturally, educationally, and economically, is, indeed, such a centre in which the university should have been founded a long time ago.’
‘Stolypin not only outlined the contours of a newly built Russia, but also laid the groundwork for qualitative changes. This, first of all, is his great historical merit,’ the professor concluded. You can watch the recording of Varfolomeyev's speech here.
After the open lecture, the members participated in the three panel discussions in SSU Bldgs. X and Xi. The legal section was devoted to The historical experience and the current state of parliamentarism and self-government in Russia. Its moderator was the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor Galina Komkova.
The Professor of the Department of Political Sciences Vladimir Mitrokhin made a report titled The idea of parliamentarism in the political discussions of the Russian emigration of the first wave. The Associate Professor of the Department of Constitutional and Municipal Law, the Faculty of Law, SSU, Elena Berdnikova spoke about the political and legal views of the reformer and the importance of parliament in public administration. The Chair of the Department of Constitutional and International Law, the Stolypin Institute of Management, Professor Jamilia Veliyeva paid the attention to The human rights and freedoms in the Stolypin’s projects. The report of the Professor of the Department of Constitutional and Municipal Law Natalia Averyanova was devoted to The historical parallels of P.A. Stolypin's reform with local government.
Galina Komkova hoped that the participants would be able to independently address the legacy of Pyotr Stolypin, his ideas, judgments expressed by his contemporaries and modern researchers. The dean considered the forum to be very large-scale and interesting. ‘I am impressed that almost all higher educational institutions of Saratov have united at the Stolypin Forum. This is a unifying forum with a very important and serious idea – the idea of statehood, of which Pyotr Stolypin was a prominent representative.’
At the Pyotr Stolypin and his epoch in literature and arts panel discussion, the lectures were presented by the teaching staff members of the Institute of Philology and Journalism. The discussion was moderated by the Professor of the Department of Russian and World Literatures Aleksei Gaponenkov. He was the first speaker there, who commented on the topic Pyotr Stolypin in the Russian Thought journal. The professor noted that the reformer's activity was analysed in detail in one of the best thick journals of the beginning of the 20th century, which is of interest for study.
The Chair of the Department of Russian Language and Speech Communication Alla Baikulova and the Associate Professor Galina Kulikova analysed Stolypin’s declamatory style. Galina Kulikova gave examples from the politician’s speeches and letters: the politician associated the glory and power of Russia with Orthodoxy, in his speeches, he expressed the idea of preserving the country as a state and saving its people. Stolypin’s speech is distinguished by original metaphors, the usage of tactics of preliminary explanation, two-sided argumentation, and high sounding.
The Associate Professor of the Department of Russian and World Literatures Natalia Novikova reviewed the dialogue of a politician and a writer: Pyotr Stolypin and Leo Tolstoy. She read Tolstoy's letters and gave Stolypin's answers to them.
The Professor of the Department of Russian and World Literatures Alexander Vanyukov studied the issue of Stolypin's death in the memoirs of his contemporaries who noted that Stolypin's death was a catastrophe that radically changed the state of things.
The Professor of the Department of Russian and World Literatures Lyudmila Gerasimova and the Associate Professor Gulnara Altynbayeva examined Stolypin’s image in Solzhenitsyn’s works. Solzhenitsyn discovered the politician’s personality in of Russian history of the 20th century.
The discussion was attended the staff of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Language Teaching Methods, the Faculty of Pedagogical and Special Needs Education, and the Faculty of Philosophy.
The Pyotr Stolypin and the historical epoch panel discussion brought together historians and economists. The speakers highlighted the most important aspects and features of economic, state, and national policy of the era of the Russian reformer.
The Professor of the Department of Russian History and Archaeology Yurii Varfolomeyev, who acted as the moderator of the panel discussion, set the following goal for the participants: to evaluate and understand the historical heritage of Pyotr Stolypin. The meeting was opened by the Professor of the Department of National History and Historiography Anatolii Myakshev. He delivered a report on the topic Pyotr Stolypin and the ethnic issues in Russia. The Associate Professor of the Department of Russian History and Archaeology Maksim Zaitsev dedicated his speech to the legislative programme of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire dated January 12, 1907. The Professor of the Department of Economics Theory and National Economy Georgii Cheremisinov told the audience how the Russian economy developed during Stolypin’s work.
In the end, the Head of Reserve Collection Work with Branches and Museums of the Saratov Regional Museum of Local Lore Larisa Mordasova delivered a report on The museum lesson as a form of presentation of the topic of Pyotr Stolypin’s agrarian reform. Thereby, she introduced the participants to the teaching of history using museum exhibitions.
The recordings from the panel discussions are available on VKontakte. You can watch them following the links:
Pyotr Stolypin and the historical epoch
The historical experience and the current state of parliamentarism and self-government in Russia
