Catherine the Great and the Smolny Institute: Russia's First Female School

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Catherine the Great's establishment of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens in 1764—the first state-run school for women in Russia. They discuss the influence of Enlightenment thinkers like Diderot and Beccaria on Catherine's educational reforms, the curriculum at Smolny (which included languages, science, and arts but also needlework and piety), the social experiment of admitting non-noble girls in a separate section, and the legacy of Smolny in shaping future generations of educated Russian women, including its role in the 1917 Revolution as Bolshevik headquarters. The episode also touches on Catherine's broader educational vision through the Commission on National Education and the Statute of Public Schools of 1786. #CatherineTheGreat #SmolnyInstitute #RussianHistory #HistoryOfEducation #WomenInHistory #Enlightenment #18thCentury #StPetersburg #Diderot #IvanBetskoy #NobleMaidens #FexingoHistory #EasternEurope #RussianEmpire #EducationalReform #SmolnyConvent #BolshevikRevolution #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo