Vasily Klyuchevsky: His Place and Role in the Development of the System of State Final Certification in Historical Education

Abstract

Review of the book: Fedorov P.V., Grachev A.B., Orishev A.B., Sherstyuk M.V. (comps.). Klyuchevsky and His School: Vasily O. Klyuchevsky’s Evaluation Reports on Master’s and Candidate’s Theses on the History of Russia and the Russian Church (from the Archives of Moscow Theological Academy). St. Petersburg, 2026. 321 p. (in Russ.).

The article analyses documents and materials in the anthology under study compiled by a team of authors from the Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy. The collection presents 125 evaluation reports by the outstanding scholar Vasily O. Klyuchevsky on the theses of students whose academic supervisor or opponent he was during his 35-year teaching at Moscow Theological Academy (from 1871 to 1906). The overwhelming majority of these documents had not been published before. The scientific and practical importance of the anthology is pointed out, since it unveils new facets of Klyuchevsky’s creative and pedagogical work. Moreover, the book presents invaluable materials regarding the content of Russian history curricula and the topics of candidate’s theses on this subject as well as the organization of final certification of students in higher educational institutions of Tsarist Russia.