Sergei Alexandrovich was born in 1833 and, by family ties and relationships, belonged to the noble nobility. By the way. He was the nephew of the famous poet E. A. Baratynsky. Having graduated from Moscow University in 1853 in the Faculty of Natural Sciences, he chose the study of botany as his specialty. Soon afterwards he was awarded a master's degree for his essay: “On the Movement higher plants” and took the department of botany at the university. As a professor, he declared himself with scientific works, such as: “On some chemical transformations of plant tissues” (doctoral dissertation), “Flowers and Insects”, and also translated into Russian the famous work of Darwin: “On the Origin of Species” and Schleiden “The Life of Plants” " But, immersing himself in the study of his science, Sergei Alexandrovich did not become a one-sided specialist. On the contrary, he was keenly interested in issues of literature and philosophy, was an excellent classicist and connoisseur of the arts, especially painting and music. According to his convictions, he belonged to the Slavophiles and was a sincerely religious person.
In the early seventies, Sergei Alexandrovich left his professorial chair and transferred his educational activities to the village, among the rural population, settling almost permanently in his family “Tatev”.
Here he founded an exemplary, in the full sense of the word, “Tatev” school, in which he taught for a whole quarter of a century, in which he lived continuously for many years, sharing its table and entire lifestyle with his students.
Subsequently, around the Tatev school, and following its example, a whole network of other schools arose, founded by Sergei Alexandrovich or with his close participation. These are the Glukhovskaya school, built with funds provided by Sergei Alexandrovich, two - male and female - schools in the village. Mezheninki, on the estate of close relatives of Sergei Alexandrovich, Pokrovskaya school, Novoselskaya, at the glass factory Yu.S. Nechaev-Maltseva, as well as schools in the villages of Tarkhov, Verkhovye, Sopoti, in the villages of Vyazov and Mikheevo. In recent years, with the assistance of Sergei Alexandrovich, second-grade schools have been opened in the villages of Dunaev and Bolshevo. Finally, Sergei Alexandrovich brought to life a whole network of literacy schools. Most of these schools were and are taught by students and students of Sergei Alexandrovich. Sergei Aleksandrovich helped all these schools to the extent, or better yet, beyond the measure of his means. In the past, when his strength allowed him, he often visited these schools, observed their performance, gave valuable advice and directions.
As a teacher, Sergei Aleksandrovich did not attach much importance to teaching methods or techniques, but paid main attention to the character or internal structure of the school. He began and ended his teaching career with the firm conviction that the Russian school was his entire existence. The whole way of life enters into the life of the people to whom it belongs: and since the Russian people are an Orthodox people, brought up in the precepts of the Church, then this should be their school. This school, in his deep and sincere conviction, should be under the leadership of the Orthodox Church and educate the younger generations in its spirit. He placed Tatev and the other schools he created in precisely such a close connection with the good educational principles of the ancient Russian church school. The Tatev School cannot be imagined without the Church, just as it is difficult, on the other hand, to imagine the Tatev Church without the immediate participation of the Tatev School. Led by its founder, in its services and care for its beauty. “I can see the Tatev school in front of me now,” writes one of S. A. Rachinsky’s acquaintances, Pavlov, in Moskovskiye Vedomosti. Spacious, bright. With a wide terrace-porch, it is located just opposite the church, from which it is separated by a wide street. Above the entrance to the school is an icon of Christ blessing the children. At the bottom of the school building there are spacious classrooms and premises for students, who often live at the school; upstairs are two tiny rooms of Sergei Alexandrovich, filled with bookcases, hung with maps and paintings. Walking in them through the school. Magnificent Tatev estate, with all the amenities of an enlightened rich life, just a mile away and even less from the school - and Sergei Alexandrovich, of course, could live here, in the Rachinsky family house, taking advantage of the comfort familiar from birth. But he did not want to live a life separate, even outside of classes, from his brainchild - the school and preferred its two miserable rooms to the luxurious chambers of the Tatev house. Moreover, living under the same roof with my lovely schoolchildren. He - at least at sea time. – shared their modest table with them, being content with the simple food that the woman cook prepared for the entire school “artel”. While taking a morning walk, he often collected sorrel for use in the school kitchen.
At the first meeting, Sergei Alexandrovich simply amazed with his modest appearance. To see his clothes darned and sewn, perhaps by the hands of the same woman cook, the only school servant. It was far from uncommon. But for this reason, this man could not be amazed or bribed by any brilliant appearance. In the shell, he first of all looked for content.”
And here is how another admirer and follower of Sergei Alexandrovich, Mr. Gorbov, describes the internal structure of the Tatev school. “Schoolchildren got up at 6 o’clock. After prayer, before class, the children chopped wood. They carried water from the river and cleaned the school. Classes began at 9 o'clock and continued until 12 o'clock, at 12 o'clock lunch and until 2 o'clock break. During these hours, schoolchildren played in the yard or did some light physical work. From 2 to 4 lessons. At 4 o'clock at the table (midday). From 6 o'clock new classes; often the evening was spent in rehearsals, in which not only boys but also girls took part, making up a wonderful church choir. Dinner at 8 and bedtime. One of the students said the opening prayers, then the Lord's Prayer was sung and then the teacher read one of the evening prayers. But subsequently the disciples asked to read all the evening prayers. everything ended with the singing of the troparion “To the Cross”. This, says Mr. Gorbov, took quite a long time, but no fatigue, no explanation was noticed. The children stood seriously and concentrated in front of the icon with the glowing lamp, after a whole day of intensive and varied activities. And how good, how sweet they were at that time.”
Other schools founded by Sergei Alexandrovich were also established. In all these schools classes stopped in the summer, but they continued at the Tatev school. Sergei Alexandrovich studied in the summer with best students, preparing them for teaching or for entering other higher schools. In addition, his former students, teachers of the schools he founded, came to him for the summer. These were a kind of teacher's courses at which thoughts and impressions were exchanged and various issues were discussed. Saturday conversations usually ended with singing for mass and reading the Sunday Gospel. Sergei Alexandrovich himself read, and his reading and conversations made a deep impression on the listeners.
In addition to his breadth of education and ardent faith in his work, Sergei Alexandrovich brought into his teaching activities the warmest, most devoted love for children. He was not only a teacher for his students - this man, rare in his spiritual purity and softness of a loving heart, was more like a loving mother for his pupils, living with them in the same joys and grieving over their failures and sorrows. The school was his home, the schoolchildren were his family, for whom he worked tirelessly. And how he rejoiced, with what joy his kind eyes shone when good came out of his “children,” when they, with his immediate spiritual and material help, set out on the right road. With what attention Sergei Alexandrovich followed the individual inclinations and abilities of his students! He knew each of them as in our time a rare father knows his only son. And as soon as the boy discovered at least some talent, his sensitive father-teacher would immediately come to the aid of his development.
Sergei Alexandrovich “bred” many peasant youths to become teachers, priests, artists, etc. One of his students, the now famous artist N.P. Bogdanov-Belsky and all his school genres, so famous, take place precisely in the Tatev school, all the characters in them are portraits of members of the Tatev school world; Sergei Alexandrovich himself appears in two paintings (“Mental Calculation” and “Sunday Reading”).
Sergei Alexandrovich had an extraordinary gift for attracting people and was surrounded by a number of people - spiritual and secular, burning with the fire they received from him, selflessly following their teacher. And it's not just in the immediate vicinity. It is difficult to imagine, says Mr. Gorbov, what enormous correspondence (carefully kept by him) he conducted with all parts of Russia; From everywhere, both acquaintances and strangers, turned to him for advice, guidance, support. And he found time to answer everyone, to tell everyone full of love word. An example of such correspondence can be a printed collection of his letters about sobriety to students of one of the theological academies.
Speaking about Sergei Aleksandrovich Rachinsky, one cannot remain silent about his literary and pedagogical activities. The collection of his pedagogical articles, “Rural School,” went through 4 editions. In them, in artistic form, Sergei Alexandrovich expresses his cherished thoughts about the meaning and character of the Russian folk school. His articles are written passionately, sincerely, with undoubted literary talent. Let us cite a short excerpt from this interesting book, where Sergei Alexandrovich talks about the advantages of a parish school and specifically a church school. “Our school, having become a parish school,” he writes, “will thereby acquire the character of a church school in in a broad sense this word will become the work of all church elements of the rural population, spiritual and secular, without distinction of status and class. First of all, it will become the work of the priests themselves. They already have before them examples of schools, which are still too rare, that arose in villages solely at the initiative of their priests, living under their vigilant care, the benefit and importance of which they cannot help but understand. Meanwhile, now every rural priest, acting with patience, selflessness and energy, can collect in his parish the funds necessary to maintain a school. But not everyone is equally gifted with these properties. In most cases, help is needed.
“The spread of parish schools among us,” continues Sergei Alexandrovich, “will be a true blessing for our clergy. of our rural priests is empty. Their summer is somehow filled with household chores. But in winter, the most conscientious fulfillment of services and requirements leaves wide gaps, inevitably filled with visiting guests, playing cards, vulgar public entertainment... It’s time to pull them out of the swamp that is dragging them down.
“The sincere, active participation of the priest in the school also resolves the issue of control over teaching, about the daily benevolent control that she needs. The right to this control belongs to the entire parish, but in many respects it cannot be exercised by the parents of the students, due to lack of time and information. In fact, it is, of necessity, transferred to a competent person who enjoys the confidence of the parish, and such... is a priest who stands at the height of his calling...
“Finally, we must anticipate those cases in which the parish school will become too crowded for everyone who wants to study in it, and will require the assistance of preparatory village schools. The only person The one who can give teaching the desired direction in these small schools, who can serve as a link between them and the parish school, is again a priest. I attach particular importance to this consideration. The more advanced schools that are emerging among us are not intended to displace our native village school, but to elevate it, organize it and supplement it.”
Sergei Alexandrovich did not attach much importance to issues of school methodology. But even in this area he left behind a valuable monument. We mean the textbook he compiled: “1001 problems for mental calculation.” He also published the “Psalter” with explanations of some expressions.
In the Highest Rescript, dated May 14, 1899, given to the honorary trustee of parochial schools of the IV deanery district, Belsky district, Smolensk province, S.A. Rachinsky, his many years of activity in organizing the education and upbringing of peasant children in an inextricable connection with the church and parish are noted, i.e., in other words, activity in the field of education and training of younger generations in the Orthodox-Russian direction. But the same goal, the same basics are indicated for our parochial schools. Sergei Alexandrovich's pedagogical views were as follows: the school with its entire existence, with its entire way of life should enter into the life of the people, its people; and since the Russian people are an Orthodox Church people, then the school should be the same. Supporters and advocates of parochial schools hold the same views. It would be a big mistake to think that, leaving his professorship at Moscow University in order to devote himself entirely to the cause of public education, Sergei Aleksandrovich had in mind to create some new type of school, something that had never existed before. Yes, the type of school is S.A. Rachinsky was new for its time, but only because it was well forgotten. In reality, Sergei Alexandrovich's schools were old schools. These schools existed in Rus' from the time of Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles, and if they were abandoned, it was not at all because they had no vitality in themselves, or were unsuitable for the spirit and disposition of the Russian people, but solely because the strong, excessive passion for the West, which forced us discarding everything unsuitable for the historical growth of the Russian people, at the same time for a long time prevented us from understanding and properly appreciating the good that pre-Petrine Rus' left us. In the field of public education S.A. Rachinsky was the first person to free himself from the oppression of Western European folk pedagogy. His bright mind, European, as they say, enlightened, but alien to one-sided passion for foreign things, did not want to call on heterodox and foreign teachers, but princes and masters of the minds and characters of the younger generations of the Russian people; he turned to the historical past of his native people and there he found the type of schools that are now known as Rachinsky schools. And just as those pre-Petrine schools were Orthodox-Russian church schools, so were the schools of Sergei Alexandrovich, which arose long before the time when the name “church school” appeared in our official language, although at the beginning of their existence they did not bear this name, but in spirit , teaching methods, throughout their structure were Orthodox parochial schools. This is the special merit of S.A. Rachinsky that he was the first to act as a strong supporter of the education and training of the people in inextricable connection with the parish, and then by personal example, in his truly exemplary schools, he showed both the possibility and invaluable usefulness of such education and training. Schools S.A. Rachinsky, in the words of the Highest Rescript, being among the parish church, became a breeding ground for educated figures in the same spirit, a school of labor, sobriety and good morals and a living example for all similar institutions. And what a deep faith, what a powerful, unshakably firm conviction in the vitality of the parochial school in its complete adaptability and usefulness for the Russian people should have guided and, indeed, guided Sergei Alexandrovich when he decided to exchange a brilliant professorship for a modest teacher in a rural church school! The same faith prompted him with all his pure, sincere, Orthodox-Russian soul to join the leaders of the parochial school, when the latter, during the extraordinary rise of Russian self-awareness under the deceased Sovereign Emperor Alexander III, received state significance. Sergei Alexandrovich, one might say, lived the life of this school, rejoiced at its successes and was saddened by its failures. So this is the work to which the deceased S.A. devoted his wonderful soul, all the richest reserve of his talents. Rachinsky: this is a parochial school.
Having retired from noisy Moscow to the blessed silence of his native Tatev, S.A. Rachinsky lived there as a complete hermit: he visited Moscow occasionally, and even less often in St. Petersburg. Most of our press, after he left Moscow University, was silent about him; Sergei Aleksandrovich himself resolutely avoided making himself known, especially in that noisy, rattling form that the crowd likes so much and makes the crowd talk. And it turned out as if no one cared about how the former Moscow professor lived and what he did in his rural solitude. Others who knew what business S.A. devoted himself to. Rachinsky, his hermitage gave reason to think that he was not understood, that he, who laid down his soul for public education in the spirit of faith and the Church, stood alone on the path he had chosen, and that due to such shameful indifference of society, the holy work of Sergei Alexandrovich was doomed to die. But the hermitage of S.A. Rachinsky was not the hermitage of a strict recluse, who once and for all broke ties with the world and was entirely focused on personal improvement, on personal salvation. No, the solitude of Sergei Alexandrovich was more reminiscent of the hermitage of those strong-willed men who, retiring to the desert to strengthen their spiritual strength, with the purity of their moral personality and high feats of self-sacrifice, gathered around them many disciples, who then carried the glorious behests of their teachers to all ends of the earth. The village of Tatevo was just such a revived desert during S.A.’s life there. Rachinsky. There were no learned professors and colleagues here, there were no student listeners; There were only peasant children here, sharing with their teacher both the difficulties of learning and meager food. Close friendship and ardent love connected the teacher with the students. Sergei Alexandrovich loved his kids as if they were his own children. “You are my father, my mother, my family and everything,” he told them thoughtfully and with tears in his eyes. The kids did not understand these words, but with a sensitive child’s heart they felt that ardent love was speaking these words to them, and they responded to love with love: the words and precepts of the teacher were deeply engraved into the hearts, the internal connection between the teacher and students grew and strengthened every day and was not interrupted then for life. The schools founded by Sergei Alexandrovich produced hundreds of figures in public education: rural teachers and pastors of the Church, zealous students of the deceased and ardent preachers of his pedagogical views. These students did not stop living spiritual communication with him until the death of their father-teacher. In addition, selfless devotion and ardent love of S.A. Rachinsky’s approach to business, his masterful ability to lead him were the reason that many teachers were sent to the village of Tatevo, who were not the students of the deceased, but who wanted to see a living example of an exemplary teacher, to receive valuable advice and guidance from him and in a sincere conversation with wise old man to gain new strength for difficult service in the field of public education. But oral, so to speak, direct conversation was not limited to Sergei Alexandrovich’s communication with his many students and followers. Extensive correspondence between the deceased and various figures in the field of education and training in the spirit and direction of which Sergei Alexandrovich himself was a representative shows that the eyes of the church and school world were turned to his little Tatevo. And no wonder. Name S.A. Rachinsky was known and dear to the leaders of the parochial school, not only because of the charm that direct communication with him produced, but also because of his literary and pedagogical works, which soon became the property of the church school after their publication. His note “On Model Schools at Theological Seminaries” in 1884 was sent out for information to all diocesan eminences. The result of familiarization with this note, compiled on the basis of deep knowledge and long-term practical experience, was the opening in the fall of 1885 of exemplary elementary schools at some theological seminaries, and now there is hardly a single theological seminary or diocesan women's school that does not have an exemplary school . The same note was then published in the time-based collection “Church School” (1887 No. 2). In 1891, Mr. Gorbov, with his preface, published “Rural School” - a collection of pedagogical articles by S.A. Rachinsky. In the same year, this collection was sent by the School Council under the Holy Synod to diocesan councils for the free supply of model and two-year schools. In 1898, “Rural School” was published by the School Council under the Holy Synod. In 1901, the same Council published a brochure by S.A. Rachinsky "School trip to the Nilova Hermitage". An interesting problem book by Sergei Aleksandrovich “1001 problems for mental arithmetic” has been published for school use. So, being in his Tatev solitude, S.A. Rachinsky did not interrupt communication with the church and school world for one minute: until his death, he himself taught, and they learned from him in word, deed, and literary pen.
Upon retirement and until his death, S.A. Rachinsky, as was said, lived almost continuously in Tatev. But the rural silence did not give him rest: he devoted all his free time to Tatev and other basic schools and those schools of which he was a trustee. In total, there were 12 schools under his direct patronage. Most of these schools were opened by S.A. Rachinsky before the promulgation of the Highest approved rules on parochial schools on June 13, 1884 and was maintained almost exclusively at the expense of Sergei Alexandrovich. Some of these schools, it is true, received meager support from the local zemstvo and were considered zemstvo, but in spirit and direction, in their entire structure they were strictly parochial. And S.A. himself In the last years of his life, Rachinsky persistently petitioned for the transfer of these imaginary zemstvos to the spiritual department. Sergei Alexandrovich gave his entire reserve of mental strength to the schools he opened and led. Every year he spent up to 5,000 rubles on the maintenance of schools, not counting other expenses: repairing buildings, erecting new ones, etc. These random but inevitable expenses were also often covered from Rachinsky’s funds. The pension assigned to him also went to the same schools, and therefore, not without reason, he jokingly said that from the time his pension was assigned to him, his life became precious. Without sparing material resources, Sergei Alexandrovich did not spare his spiritual strength for the benefit of his favorite schools. Neither advanced years nor ordinary ailments could break the energy of the elder teacher. He didn't know how to get tired. From early morning until late at night he was always at work. His students were surprised when he rested, and when asked to rest they received a complacent answer: “You, young people, need to rest, but for me, an old man, what a rest...”
But within the close framework of trusteeship of church schools of the IV deanery district of Belsky district (this was the official title of S.A. Rachinsky), the pedagogical activity of the deceased was not confined. From his quiet corner, Sergei Alexandrovich vigilantly followed everything that was happening in the field of church and school affairs, was well aware of all the initiatives relating to the upbringing and training of younger generations in the spirit of the Orthodox Church, and took a very lively and active part in the ideas of such upbringing and training through the establishment of parochial schools. There was not a single more or less important event concerning these schools that was conceived and carried out without the advice and approval of S.A. Rachinsky. That is why both the present and the future of church schools are closely connected with the name of Sergei Alexandrovich, not only as the first restorer of the ancient Russian system of education and training of the people in inextricable connection with the church and parish, but also as the most active collaborator and wisest adviser in the correct organization of the church school . In this aspect of his activity, one can say without exaggerating, the modest trustee of parochial schools of the IV deanery district of Belsky district, Smolensk province, grows into a trustee of church schools throughout Russia. Time for a proper assessment of the life and work of S.A. Rachinsky has not yet arrived. The richest materials for his characterization, scattered in the numerous letters of the deceased to church school leaders, students and admirers, have not yet been collected. It would be highly desirable that not a single one of these valuable sheets, written by the hand of Sergei Alexandrovich, be lost for posterity. It would be desirable for living witnesses of his life and deeds, his disciples, to tell us what their grateful memory of their father-teacher has preserved.
And how unexpectedly death approached him. Two more days later they saw him active as usual; as usual, visitors came to him, mainly from the educational rural world, he was still conducting his extensive correspondence - and suddenly the sudden news of his death! On May 2 at 9 a.m. S.A. gone.
As soon as the sad news of S.A.’s death was announced, his numerous pupils and the masses of people moved from everywhere to Tatevo. Everyone wanted to once again see the dear features of the unforgettable teacher and bow to his ashes. Memorial services followed memorial services; students of Tatev and other schools read the Psalter day and night. Liturgy was celebrated daily in the Tatev Church. By the time of the burial, distant admirers of S.A. had also arrived: the director of the court singing chapel, S.V. Smolensky, former pupil S.A. – artist N.P. Bogdanov-Belsky, priest of the Holy Cross community of sisters of mercy A.P. Vasiliev, sent for burial by His Grace Bishop Peter - the rector of the Smolensk Theological Seminary, Archimandrite Alypiy and the diocesan observer of church schools, relatives of the deceased and other persons. Drovninsky teacher's school sent two metal wreaths artistic work from teachers and students.
On the eve of the funeral service at the grave of Fr. The rector of the seminary, co-served by all the clergy who arrived, including 8 priests, celebrated the funeral all-night vigil. Due to the coincidence of the service with the eve of Sunday and the ongoing celebration of Pentecost, the following were included in the service: the Sunday Gospel, the Easter stichera “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ” and the Easter canon. A choir of teachers from Tatev and neighboring schools sang. “Yesterday I was buried with You, Christ, today I stand with You in resurrection, I was crucified with You yesterday: glorify me Yourself, O Savior, in Your kingdom.” After the all-night vigil, already late in the evening, the students of the Tarkhov Zemstvo School arrived, which also considers S.A. its founder, with the participation of local teachers, celebrated the last funeral service. The beautiful singing of the girls, the quiet, concentrated atmosphere and the whole atmosphere, full of solemnity, made a deep impression on everyone.
The next day it started early in the morning unusual movement. The masses of people came more and more, and everyone headed towards the familiar house. At half past eight the bell rang. Proceeded from the temple procession. The assembled clergy, led by Fr. rector, performed a lithium in the house, the remains of the deceased were transferred to a coffin and a sad procession began. The coffin was lifted by priests and carried most of the way. When leaving the house, outside the estate and in places where the late S.A. especially liked to stop to rest among conversations with visitors. litias were performed: the rest of the time - the incessant song “Holy God.” Having reached the church, the procession turned to the school located opposite it. Following the cross, a coffin was brought into the school. The classroom where S.A. worked for so many years met its teacher again to give him his last farewell greetings. “Dear and unforgettable father!” – with these approximately words Fr. addressed him. Alexander Vasiliev: “ long years We lived by your labor and love, our soul is full of you, but what will we say now? The stricken heart is silent, and what word can express all our love for you? Accept from us at least this weak tribute of gratitude,” and all those present, following the priest, bowed to the ground at the coffin.
Upon arrival of the procession to the church, the Divine Liturgy began. Having accomplished it, Fr. the rector, co-served by the diocesan superintendent of schools and seven priests from neighboring villages. A wave of people filled the temple, chapels and choirs in a dense mass and surrounded it in a wide ring, spreading through the churchyard. The divine service was performed decorously and orderly. The touching chants of the liturgy, the majestic sacred actions, the very atmosphere of the service, so extraordinary, involuntarily captured the soul. Not a single extraneous sound, not a single inappropriate word disturbed the sacred moments of the secret action. Only prayers proclaimed by the priests, and only hymns were heard in the temple; the prayerful mood dominated inseparably. After the sacramental verse, a former student of S.A., Fr., ascended to the pulpit. Alexander Vasiliev,” and the whole crowd swayed.
The preacher dedicated a beautiful, inspired word to the deceased. Putting into his mouth the text from the high priestly prayer of the Lord: I have completed the work that you have given, let me do it(John 17:4), he consistently revealed what bright covenants of truth, righteousness and love were the beginning of the entire life of the deceased and how they should be sacred for everyone who cherishes his memory. The word flowed long and freely, full of love and reverence for the deceased, and it was warmly received by the listeners. The liturgy is over. At the time of the burial, the district superintendent of church schools and 6 more priests arrived, who, having dressed, also took part in the funeral service. Before the funeral service began, Fr. the rector went to the pulpit and said a word.
“We are all firmly convinced of this,” said Fr. rector, - that in your person our whole Russia has lost one of its most valiant sons, science - one of its representatives and ascetics, society has lost a citizen of incorruptible honesty, boundless energy, high and ideal aspirations, an activist for the good and enlightenment of the people, in the days we are experiencing our malice is unparalleled and irreplaceable.
“Like the ancient Russian ascetics, he had long ago left the world and its bustle. In his young years, he brilliantly completed his scientific education, a professor at Moscow University in his good times, already a famous scientist in Europe, he voluntarily renounced fame, honor and glory, went to the village, the wilderness, to those simple dark people who are so in need of enlightenment , but not in the kind that self-proclaimed lovers of the people want to impose on him, but in true enlightenment, in enlightenment in the spirit of the Orthodox Church, in constant close communication with which he saw the cornerstone of the education of the Russian people. And in this holy work of his, he found complete satisfaction - working for decades. He plunged into this world of dark people, with his truly Russian soul he felt a connection with its indigenous worldviews and aspirations. In the darkness of the people's life, the truth of deep faith and love, the unity of his native land into a major force under the rule of the Autocratic Tsar and the holy desire for feat shone for him. He went along with it native communication feelings and sanctified another path to truth with all the power of knowledge, mind, with all the grace of his loving heart; with the soul of a believer and artist, he penetrated the depths of solemn beauty church service, fully comprehended the shrine of the leadership of the Orthodox Church, from cradle to grave leading a person to goodness by faith, love...
And just as the Lord glorified the names of the great Russian hermits, who from the wilderness of the desert shone with the light of their exploits throughout Orthodox Rus', he also glorified the name of the hermit-teacher Sergei Aleksandrovich Rachinsky, who left glory for the wilderness of the village, but from there he became famous for his unparalleled educational activities only in his beloved Russia, but also far beyond its borders.
“Let us lift up our fervent prayer to God, that He, the heavenly Master of Household, will accept this His servant, the Bolyarin Sergius, who is departing from us, now into His monastery, as the vessel is sanctified and beneficial(), and may his soul rest in peace, where the faces of saints and righteous women shine like stars.
“Go in peace to the abode of peace, selfless, honest, noble, loving, Russian soul!” After the speech, the funeral ceremony began. Prayer was performed diligently and reverently. The sacred chants of the rite, either depicting the frailty and misfortunes of life or the weakness and guilt of man before the Highest Truth, or inspiring the spirit with hope for God’s mercy, involuntarily turned the heart and mind to the dear deceased, calling everyone to fervent prayer. Like a moment, his bright life, his humble deep faith, his love for the very temple where he entered now for the last time, his selfless work and inexhaustible love for people flashed through his thoughts. Song 6 of the canon was followed by the speech of the diocesan observer.
“There are names, said Fr. an observer, the significance of which cannot be fully appreciated by contemporaries and is determined only later, when the depth of ideas and their fruitfulness in life are more accurately understood. The deceased Sergei Alexandrovich is one of these figures. Most of his life was spent in rural silence and was alien to loud social activities. But even without holding an official position, he had enormous influence and, while remaining a private person, created something great.
“A whole number of public schools consider Sergei Alexandrovich their founder; for many he was the only support and faithful guardian. His caring heart included all their spiritual and material needs and was always ready to help. More than one pupil from more gifted natures was placed on the right path by him. life path, and now they serve as pastors of the Church, school teachers and other useful figures.
“Himself a deep believer, he was convinced that public education can only be true and fruitful when it is under the constant gracious leadership of the Church of Christ. He believed that this particular school, and not another, could be the basis of moral steadfastness and spiritual improvement. According to this high ideal, he began to organize the life of schools. Everything in his school: the very appearance, the teaching, and the entire internal structure in general - was of a religious and educational nature, and this gave it deep vital meaning. Fully responding to the spiritual needs of the people, historically strengthened beliefs and their entire way of life, it became truly popular and became the prototype of other schools; they were given the highest confidence, given material resources and declared the protection of the law. From now on, the church school, nurtured by Sergei Alexandrovich, received all the guarantees for further development. The bright holiday of his beloved work still found him, and needless to say, with what joy he was greeted by him!... Eternal memory to you, champion of public education, and a deep grateful bow from the Smolensk land, for which, first of all, you worked, sparing neither honors nor the fame of a scientist, nor rich spiritual talents, nor your visible property"...
At song 9 of the canon, a representative of the Drovinsky teacher’s school, teacher V.A., approached the coffin. Lebedev, and made a speech.
“I personally had the lot,” the preacher said, by the way, of extraordinary happiness: I was a teacher at the Tatev school for a whole year and a half and taught together with Sergei Alexandrovich. It was the happiest time of my life. There was a lot of work at school, but it did not frighten or burden us: our dear teacher walked ahead of us. He, already elderly and sick, inspired us with his example, encouraged us with his words, guided us in our endeavors and at the same time did not constrain our freedom. All Tatevskaya teachers bowed to their dear teacher. His amazing spiritual purity had a charming effect on us; his ascetic life, which we witnessed, amazed us and attracted us to him; his ardent love for children, his heartfelt faith in God, in goodness, in the triumph of truth, touched us and took possession of our souls...
“I pray to God that He will give us, S.A.’s students, the strength to continue the work of our teacher, help us raise worthy workers in the field that the dear deceased began to cultivate. Let the bright image of the teacher shine in our hearts.”
After the stichera of the self-vocalists, the priest of the village of Glukhova, Fr. The philosopher Borodovsky, turning to the deceased, warmly thanked him for his fatherly concerns about schools, for his kind, cordial relationship and, among other things, related a memorable conversation on July 5, 1901, when the deceased invited his interlocutors to find an epitaph on his gravestone by next year and he himself resolved the difficulty by assigning the word of the Lord for the inscription: Man will not live on bread alone().
Before farewell, a speech was made by the priest of the village of Dunaev, Fr. Dimitry Berezkin.
The kissing began. Quietly, silently, the masses of people passed by to say goodbye to the deceased, to look once again at the dear face that once shone with unchanging kindness and greetings for everyone, to make a final bow, and they also left, giving way to others.
The last chants were sung, a farewell and permission prayer was read, and the remains of the deceased moved towards the exit. Family crypt near the church. with the coffins of S.A.’s mother and older brother, he gave space to a new member of the family. After a short litany, the coffin was sealed and placed in the prepared place.
This is the end of your earthly journey, Sergei Alexandrovich!
Rest peacefully in your sacred refuge, overshadowed by the holy cross of the church, the grace-filled power of prayers and bloodless sacrifice. offered in it, until the day when you hear the voice of the Son of God and are reunited with your spirit through renewed flesh.
After the service, the clergy and guests were invited to the house for a funeral meal, and the students headed to the school, where lunch was prepared for them. The same long tables, covered with clean tablecloths, which Sergei Alexandrovich arranged on holidays in the old days, the same cool atmosphere, the same familiar faces, but there was no visible revival and rise of a happy feeling, the usual companions of Sergei Alexandrovich when visiting school: the children understood too , although still vaguely, a dear loss.
The day was approaching evening. Distant guests were leaving, people were leaving. It became quieter and quieter in Tatev. But until the late hour, either individuals or small groups were still visible, who, before leaving the village, headed to the church and there prayed over a fresh grave.
Teachers are often compared to jewelers who create works of art from uncut stones. So talented teachers step by step turn inexperienced students into real professionals. AiF.ru recalls the stories of Russian geniuses and their favorite teachers.
Mikhail Lomonosov and Christian Wolf
One of the first world-famous Russian scientists, Mikhail Lomonosov, early years showed his exceptional abilities. Therefore, in 1736, among the most outstanding students of the St. Petersburg Academy, he was sent to Germany for further education, where he met his main “benefactor and teacher” Christian Wolf.
Christian Wolf. Photo: Public Domain
By this time, the German professor had already had a huge influence on European education, outlining a systematic vision of almost all the sciences known at that time. Lomonosov became the most talented heir to his knowledge and even went further than his teacher in the field of scientific worldview.
From the first days, Wolf saw real talent in Lomonosov and began to pay more attention to him than to other Russian students. In his reports, he called Lomonosov “the brightest head” and “a young man with excellent abilities” who made particular progress in the sciences. Over the course of three years, Wolf, with the pedantry characteristic of Germans, developed the young man’s natural talent: he taught him to focus on the most important things and systematize his own knowledge. And as a result, he raised not only a real scientist, but also a tactful person (years later, Lomonosov realized that his views were in conflict with Wolf’s theses, and for several years he did not dare to publish the results of some of his observations).
At the end of the course at the University of Marburg, Wolf gave the Russian student a brilliant description: “A young man with excellent abilities, Mikhail Lomonosov, from the time of his arrival in Marburg, diligently attended my lectures on mathematics and philosophy, and mainly on physics, and especially tried to acquire thorough knowledge. I have no doubt at all that if he continues his studies with the same diligence, then over time, upon returning to his fatherland, he can benefit the state, which is what I sincerely wish.” And later he closely followed his successes: “With great pleasure I saw that in your academic “Commentaries” you showed yourself to the learned world, by which you brought great honor to your people.”Lomonosov was admired not only by his teacher’s encyclopedic education, but also by his kind attitude towards others. Wolf helped Russian students who found themselves in a foreign country pay off creditors, including tailors, dance and fencing teachers, shoemakers and booksellers. There is a legend that on the day the Russian students left, Wolf invited all their creditors to his place and, in front of the amazed students, paid off their debts, which moved Lomonosov to tears.
Svyatoslav Richter and Heinrich Neuhaus
The father of Svyatoslav Richter, one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, was himself a famous musician and taught at the conservatory. He also gave the first music lessons to his talented son, but as often happens in a family of professional musicians, Theophilus Richter there was no time to study with his own son - he spent all his time teaching other children.
Heinrich Neuhaus. Photo: RIA Novosti / Pashin
Despite the fact that Richter began performing concerts in public very early, and from 1930 to 1932 he worked as a pianist-accompanist at the Odessa Sailor's House, only at the age of 22 he decided to receive a professional musical education and entered the Moscow Conservatory. There he met his first teacher, the famous pianist Heinrich Neuhaus, who recalled this meeting as follows: “The students asked to audition a young man from Odessa who would like to enter the conservatory in my class. — Has he already graduated from music school? - I asked. - No, he didn’t study anywhere. I admit, this answer was somewhat puzzling. A man who had not received a musical education was going to the conservatory!.. It was interesting to look at the daredevil.” But as soon as Richter sat down at the piano, he captivated Neuhaus with his talent: “He played very restrained, I would say, even emphatically simple and strict. His performance immediately captivated me with some amazing insight into the music. I whispered to my student: “In my opinion, he is a brilliant musician.” After Beethoven's Twenty-eighth Sonata, the young man played several of his works and sight-read. And everyone present wanted him to play again and again...”
Neuhaus, of course, accepted Richter into his class. He himself was the son of the director of a private music school and rejected many pedagogical methods, so he never taught Richter in the generally accepted sense of the word; as he admitted, there was nothing to teach him - it was only necessary to develop his talent.
Richter remained grateful to his teacher all his life, not only for his caring attitude towards his talent, but also for the fact that Neuhaus once returned him to his studies. In the first year, the young man refused to study general education subjects and went to Odessa, but at the insistence of Neuhaus he returned to Moscow and re-entered the conservatory.It is interesting that, having played almost all the piano classics, Richter never included the Fifth Concerto in his program Beethoven, because he believed that he could not play him better than his mentor. But not only for Richter, Neuhaus became a favorite teacher. Among his students were many famous musicians: Tikhon Khrennikov, Theodor Gutman, Emmanuel Grosman, Bertha Marantz, Semyon Benditsky, Emil Gilels. A famous poet Osip Mandelstam in 1931 he dedicated a poem entitled “Piano” to Neuhaus’s piano playing:
Are my hands sledgehammers?
Ten fingers are my herd!
And he jumped up, shaking off his coattails,
Master Heinrich is a little hunchbacked horse.
Nikolai Lobachevsky and Grigory Kartashevsky
Once the famous Russian mathematician Nikolai Lobachevsky remarked: “You cannot be a genius if you were not born one. This is the art of educators: to discover Genius, enrich it with knowledge and give freedom to follow its suggestions.” He was lucky to be a student of a Genius who possessed encyclopedic knowledge and gladly shared it with others.
Grigory Kartashevsky. Photo: Public Domain
Lobachevsky was the son of a commoner, so it was not easy to get into the imperial educational institution, where his mother brought him at the age of nine. However, the boy was lucky: the exams were taken by the teacher of the Kazan Imperial University, Grigory Kartashevsky, who immediately recognized the boy’s talent. He gave Lobachevsky a task: the pool receives water from four pipes; the first fills it in a day, the second in two days, the third in three, and the fourth in four; want to know how long it will take to fill the pool if all four pipes are opened at the same time? - and Lobachevsky quickly solved it in his mind. Kartashevsky began to come up with even more complex problems, but the boy, without touching the stylus, solved them in his head.
So Lobachevsky ended up in the Kazan gymnasium, where for three years he had to master an extensive program: foreign languages, Russian grammar, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, mechanics, hydraulics, land surveying, history, logic, practical philosophy, civil architecture, military affairs and much more. And since there were almost no official textbooks, each teacher was obliged to write a textbook on his discipline. And Kartashevsky created a textbook of pure mathematics, which captivated Lobachevsky so much that he literally did not leave his teacher a single step. From the first day, the talented teacher not only expanded the young man’s horizons, but also developed his critical sense so that he would not be afraid to show creative courage.
Their creative student-teacher union could continue further: after high school, Lobachevsky entered the Kazan Imperial University, where Kartashevsky continued to lecture. However, in December 1806, the latter was removed from office as “showing a spirit of disobedience and disagreement.”
As you know, geniuses have not only followers, but also envious people - Kartashevsky was undeservedly accused of violating the regulations. Such injustice made a strong impression on Lobachevsky, who from then on hated the director, his “accomplices” and the new mathematics teacher.
The First Interregional Festival of Orthodox Temperance Societies named after S.A. Rachinsky "Tatev Readings - 2012" begins on October 25. Siberians will also take part in it.
Russian folk school. Its origins are the school of L.N. Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana near Tula, school of Princess M.K. Tenisheva in Talashkino near Smolensk, and on Tver land, near Olenin - the school of Sergei Aleksandrovich Rachinsky in Tatev.
When you approach Tatev, you see a small lake, and along the shore there is an old park, where cedars and hornbeams stand among centuries-old lindens and pines, elms and ash trees, oaks and maples. But the main attraction of the village of Tatev, known in Rus' since the 17th century, is undoubtedly the “school of piety and good morals”, in which the outstanding educator Sergei Alexandrovich Rachinsky worked.
The fate of this is unusual and difficult wonderful person. He came to the rural school, leaving the Department of Plant Physiology at Moscow University.
Sergei Aleksandrovich Rachinsky (1833 - 1902) - professor, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, mathematician and botanist, understanding the high importance of public education for the development of the country, deliberately chooses the modest fate of a rural teacher.
Since 1875, he devoted himself entirely to the cause of public education, working at the Tatev school and at the same time opening new schools for peasant children in Velsky and Rzhev districts. Rachinsky became a national teacher at the age of 42, and before that he studied at Moscow University in medicine, then at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. Even in his student years, Sergei Alexandrovich was distinguished by encyclopedic interests, determination, enormous diligence and efficiency. The subject of it scientific work was botany, but he, a mathematician, simultaneously studies theology and art history, foreign languages, music, literature, scientific and literary translations.
Rachinsky is the first in Russia to translate Charles Darwin’s famous work “The Origin of Species” from English into Russian. And in Germany, the “Family Chronicle” of the famous Russian writer Aksakov was published in translation from Russian into German, which was also done by S.A. Rachinsky.
As a teacher at Moscow University, Sergei Alexandrovich spent many years in Europe, where he was on scientific trips. In Berlin, he worked for the German botanist I. Schacht, in Switzerland he studied the pedagogical system of Pestalozzi, in Weimar, the homeland of Goethe and Schiller, he attended a music school, where he observed the work of the composer Franz Liszt with gifted children, but he was especially deeply interested in the work of Professor Jensky University of Karl Stoya, founder of the public school and pedagogical seminary. The rich and varied experience accumulated by Rachinsky both in Russia and abroad was not in vain.
In the history of domestic pedagogy S.A. Rachinsky came in as the founder of a unique rural boarding school for peasant children. The educational process at the Tatev school was structured in such a way that the universal human culture, the traditions of folk pedagogy, the ideas of Orthodoxy, and the peculiarities of rural life were taken into account.
Peasant children did not break away from their cultural environment. At school they taught agriculture, gardening, beekeeping, carpentry, sewing, embroidery, and lace-making. In a word, here they trained a skillful and zealous owner of the land, capable of living with dignity in local conditions and not leaving their native land to earn money.
Rachinsky, like the composer Franz Liszt, nurtured talents, identified them and gave them a start in life. A striking example of this is the fate of the famous Russian artist Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Velsky, a graduate of the Tatev school. Having noticed a gift for painting in a poor shepherd boy who grew up without a father, Sergei Alexandrovich takes him to Moscow and, at his own expense, teaches him at a school of painting, sculpture and architecture. The young man studies from such first-class masters as V.D. Polenov, V.E. Makovsky, I.M. Pryanishnikov. In Russian painting N.P. Bogdanov-Velsky entered as a singer of "school life and peasant children."
Nowadays a museum has been opened in Tatev, where Bogdanov-Velsky lived and worked. Visitors look with interest at the paintings “At the School Door”, “Essay”, “At the Sick Teacher” and, of course, the famous “Oral Calculation”. On this canvas, the artist painted the image of his beloved teacher with captivating warmth.
Subsequently, remembering his life, the artist would write: “Rachinsky led me onto the road. An amazing person, a teacher of life. I owe everything, everything to him. Using his own funds, he created a model school for peasant children. A clean and joyful atmosphere reigned here.”
...Years have passed. Rachinsky Park is alive and delights everyone who visits these places. And in the Tatev secondary school, which bears the glorious name of the people's teacher, bells ring, lessons go on, children's voices are heard.
The school respects the memory of a wonderful teacher and fulfills his behests; Children are treated humanely here. IN assembly hall on the walls there are landscapes by local artists, a portrait of Rachinsky, exhibitions of children's drawings. And during the lessons, texts from Sergei Alexandrovich’s book “Rural School” are heard, examples from his collection “1001 problems for mental calculation” are solved; During art lessons, children make sketches from life and copy characters from Bogdanov-Belsky’s painting “Oral Reckoning.”
Thoughts of the outstanding teacher-educator S.A. Rachinsky about the need to teach peasant children, first of all, exactly what will be useful to them in adult life, to fully develop mental abilities, to cultivate a sense of duty and responsibility for their actions; take care of their health - all these thoughts became programmatic in the activities of the head of the Oleninsky district education department T.A. Chernikova, the administration and teaching staff of Tatev Secondary School, which is skillfully led by L.A. Ali-Zade.
The educational process in this school is built largely on the pedagogical heritage of S.A. Rachinsky, of course, taking into account modern achievements in the field of psychology, pedagogy, the latest school programs and textbooks. Much attention is paid here to subject rooms, their design and equipping with book collections and technical means training.
In many classrooms you can see posters with Rachinsky’s statements about the importance of the sciences and arts studied at school:
The Russian language is a necessary tool for any learning, bookish and oral.
Geography introduces us to the area in which our whole life takes place.
Art is a flower, whimsical and delicate. This is a sacrament performed only by the power of love.
Love for nature and understanding of its beauty is one of the best fruits of true education.
There are posters with statements by prominent people in other classrooms: History is the memory of humanity, the scientific foundation of activity and culture (Vagin).
The highest purpose of mathematics is to find hidden order in the chaos that surrounds us (Wiener).
As in the time of Rachinsky, the Tatev school has a boarding school for children from distant villages and villages. The number of students in recent years has ranged from 100 to 110 people. The activities of the school are regulated by the school Charter and student self-government in the form of a “Parliamentary Republic”, which has its own coat of arms and anthem. There is also its own Code of Laws:
1. The law of an educated person. Knowledge is the greatest value. Not a day without a line. It is impossible to divide knowledge into necessary and unnecessary.
2. The law of accuracy. Time is precious, take care of it. Every business must begin and end on time.
3. The law of politeness. Be considerate of people. Try to say “magic words”.
4. The law of humanity. Don’t hurt or hurt anyone anywhere. Treat each other kindly and kindly. To be humane is to bring joy to others.
5. Law of health. Taking care of your health is everyone's business. Take care of your health.
6. The law of smiles. A smile makes a person beautiful. Give smiles to people.
7. The law of frugality. Don't break or spoil anything. Let's save everything that surrounds us. In a year or two, other children, your brother, sister, will need books, manuals, and equipment.
8. The law “Everything ourselves.” We do everything ourselves: we maintain cleanliness and order, we repair, make crafts, and decorate.
The passage of time is inexorable. And today, when more than a hundred years have passed since the death of the greatest Russian teacher late XIX century S.A. Rachinsky, interest in his extraordinary personality, innovative searches and discoveries continues.
In December 2002, the Tver Regional Institute of Teacher Training hosted an anniversary scientific and practical conference “The Pedagogical Heritage of S.A. Rachinsky and rural school". Another conference “Modern philological education: new content, technologies, educational and methodological support” was dedicated to the memory of a wonderful teacher who paid great attention to school teaching of the Russian language.
Nikolay Lebedev, Honored Teacher of Russia
The village of Tatevo and its inhabitants
Teacher Rachinsky
I firmly believe in the future of this poor, dark, barely emerging rural school.
S.A. Rachinsky
On July 5, 1901, on the day of his angel, Sergei Aleksandrovich Rachinsky invited his interlocutors to find an epitaph for his tombstone by next year (that is, 1902), and he himself resolved the difficulty by assigning the words of the Lord for the inscription: “Man will not live on bread alone.” "(Matthew 4.4.). Amazing! He predicted the year of his death.
Sergei Alexandrovich (1833 - 1902) was born in the village of Tatevo, graduated from the Faculty of Science of Moscow University, taught at the Department of Botany, and was a member of the board of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
In 1868, he retired and settled in Tatev, where he supervised the work of a school for peasant children, opened in 1875 at his own expense, and built a new building for it. Rachinsky paid the main attention to education in the spirit of Orthodoxy, giving his students not only knowledge, but also teaching them to work.
Rachinsky provided great assistance in continuing their education to talented students, and among them the artist N.P. Bogdanov-Belsky, who created an artistic chronicle of the Rachinsky school; made the school the center of the temperance movement. By 1902, 2 thousand peasants from surrounding villages were included in the Tatev Book of Sobriety, who had vowed not to drink alcohol.
There are many testimonies, stories, memories of Rachinsky from people of different ages and professions. Among them is a priest from Bobrovka, Father Alexei Nikolsky. We, contemporaries, are interested in learning about what Rachinsky was like, whether his thoughts about school, a sober lifestyle, and so on are relevant, useful and modern.
Contemporaries said about Rachinsky: “You used to ask some peasant, so, on occasion, by the way: “Do you know, uncle, Sergei Alexandrovich from Tatev?” - “Who doesn’t know him, father? - the man will answer. “These kinds of people are in plain sight, there are not many of them,” the man continues. - And let me tell you, what a gentleman! He doesn’t even have time to think about himself: he spends the whole day at school with the kids, and even the big ones, teaching them reason. Yes,” the man finished, “listen to this master and you will become a real man.”
His extraordinary kindness in his gaze, simplicity, gentleness and cordiality in his manner had a charming effect on his interlocutors, who felt reverence and respect for his personality. This man served people selflessly and unselfishly. No wonder Prince A.N. Meshchersky, in his memoirs about Sergei Alexandrovich, put as an epigraph an excerpt from a poem by A.S. Pushkin's "Prophet".
Talking with him, contemporaries experienced some kind of peace of mind, inner warmth, uplifting, as if a new life-giving force is invisibly pouring into you. Being himself a deeply religious person, Sergei Alexandrovich lit the pure lamp of sincere faith and love for God and neighbor in others.
Every summer, many guests, admirers and former students of Sergei Alexandrovich gathered in Tatev, and among them were such outstanding personalities as the historian Prince S.D. Sheremetev, philosopher V.V. Rozanov and even Bishop Nikolai of Japan (Kasatkin) himself, head of the mission of the Russian Orthodox Church in Japan, founder of many Orthodox schools and brotherhoods among the island population.
All these guests lived with Sergei Alexandrovich at his school, only on holidays they gathered in the manor’s house. Many of S.A.’s contemporaries and students. Rachinsky came to see him after the publication of the famous “Notes on a Rural School” in 1881. They all wanted to work “in the people’s field.”
By the way, during his life S.A. Rachinsky built about 30 schools, of which only the very first one has survived - Tatev.
Many of S.A.’s contemporaries and students. Rachinsky is remembered for his famous “school trips” with schoolchildren 120 miles away to Nilova Pustyn. We walked there and back only on foot. Up to 60 people, including students and teachers, took part in these trips. Rachinsky was among them.
Rachinsky paid special attention to a sober lifestyle. Letters from S.A. have been preserved. Rachinsky to the priest of the village of Bobrovka A. Nikolsky, where Sergei Alexandrovich talks about his work to create a sobriety society in the district.
“Tatevo, March 7, 1901
Dear Father Alexey!
Don't be discouraged. Every beginning is difficult. I can only repeat my advice. Start not with inveterate drunkards, but with solid and sober people, whom you should attract into society, inspiring them with the desire to benefit their weaker brothers...
I’m late in answering, because I unexpectedly went to St. Petersburg for two weeks. There I managed to open a small sobriety society among the students of the Theological Academy. Letters continue to pour in from all over Russia and Siberia. New temperance societies are springing up everywhere, some with great success.
Again I am sending you something printed. Committing myself to your prayers, I remain devoted to you S. Rachinsky.
P.S. I am enclosing the charter, very simple and efficient, of one of our temperance societies (in the land of the Don Army). Forgive the brevity and haste of this letter. I have to write more than thirty of them by mail.”
In the charter of the temperance society, which Rachinsky attaches to the letter, in one of the paragraphs it is written: “A member of the temperance society should not, under any circumstances, allow his minor children to drink alcohol.”
Several times during folklore and ethnographic expeditions I was in the village of Tatev, Oleninsky district, where the wonderful public figure, teacher and educator S.A. Rachinsky. I visited his house, school, walked through the ancient park, talked with modern residents of the village. The village of Tatevo is located in a beautiful area. Even now, many years later, it is clear that the village was well equipped. In the village of Tatev there is not only a secondary school, but also a House of Culture and a local history museum, headed by history teacher V.M. Marchenkova, there is a library and a post office. However, the remains of a beautiful estate of the second half of the 18th century - early XIX century, a regular park with rare tree species, the Trinity Church require restoration.
To this day, his memory and traditions of the great worker are honored in his native village. Rachinsky’s experience in creating the first rural school in Russia “with the right hostel” (boarding school) today can become one of the most important in the matter of transformation Central Russia, where now, like hail, people were knocked out, where once flourishing villages and villages were wiped off the face of the earth.
The Raczynskis are a noble family, coat of arms of Nałęcz, originating from Greater Poland and dating back to the 13th century. Jan Rachinsky received land in Bielsky district from Vladislav IV; His children, Daniil and Yan, entered Russian citizenship in 1656. Sergei Aleksandrovich Rachinsky belonged to this family, included in part VI of the genealogical book of the Smolensk province (General armorial of the noble families of the All-Russian Empire, part VI, p. 107).
Biography
Father - Alexander Antonovich Rachinsky (27.9.1799 - 1866). Captain of the Murom Infantry Regiment (relative of the Decembrist V.K. Kuchelbecker). Mother - Varvara Abramovna Baratynskaya (1810-1891), sister of the famous poet.
At the age of 15 he entered the medical faculty of Moscow University. After studying here for two years, he transferred to the natural sciences department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, which he graduated in 1853.
After graduating from university, he served briefly in the Foreign Affairs Archive, then in 1856 he left for Europe, continuing to study at famous universities in Germany. Returning from abroad, he defended his dissertation on the topic “On the movement of higher plants”, received the title of master and became the head of the department of plant physiology at Moscow University. At the age of 24, for a major essay “On some chemical transformations of plant tissues,” he was awarded academic degree Doctor of Botany.
In 1861, S. A. Rachinsky and Ya. A. Borzenkov translated and published “The Physiology of Everyday Life” by G. G. Lewis. In 1864, Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species” first appeared in Russian, translated by S. A. Rachinsky.
At the university, Rachinsky was loved by both students and teachers for his extensive and selfless social activities. He was a member of the committee of trustees for poor students, he was elected judge of the university court, he provided financial assistance poor, specially gifted students. Beginning in 1861, adjuncts Sergei Alexandrovich and his brother Konstantin Alexandrovich (1838-1909?) Rachinsky “expressed a desire to donate 500 rubles each from their salary annually. silver for sending young people abroad for improvement in mathematical and natural sciences as assigned by the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.” Using these funds in 1862, the future famous physicist Alexander Grigorievich Stoletov (1839-1896) was sent abroad.
In 1867, due to a conflict between progressive professors and the administration, he retired and lived without a place. In Moscow, in the house of S. A. Rachinsky on Malaya Dmitrovka, and then in one of the alleys near Ostozhenka, scientists, writers, and artists gathered. Here the owner of the house met L.N. Tolstoy, P.I. Tchaikovsky, became close to the Aksakov brothers, the family of V.F. Odoevsky, the historian V.I. Gerye and others. Conversations with L.N. Tolstoy again directed his attention to problems of public education. S. A. Rachinsky began to help his sister Varvara Alexandrovna conduct classes with children in a peasant school.
In 1872 he returned to his family village of Tatevo. Builder and teacher in Russia's first rural school with a dormitory for peasant children.
In the first period of his teaching career, Rachinsky searched in line with the ideas of the German teacher Karl Volkmar Stoy (1815-1885) and L. Tolstoy, with whom he corresponded. In the 1880s. he became the main ideologist of the parochial school in Russia, which began to compete with the zemstvo school. “Notes on rural schools”, published by him in “Russian Bulletin”, “Rus”, “Church Gazette” contributed to the development of national pedagogy. At that time, Rachinsky came to the conclusion that “the first of the practical needs of the Russian people... is communication with the Divine”; “The peasant does not reach out to the theater in search of art, but to the church, not to the newspaper, but to the Divine book.” Rachinsky believed that if a person learns to read Church Slavonic, he will understand both Dante and Shakespeare, and whoever masters the ancient church “chants” will easily understand Beethoven and Bach.
Pobedonostsev K.P. wrote about him to Emperor Alexander III in 1883:
It is important to note that the first rural schools for peasant children on the Boratynsky and Rachinsky estates were founded by female representatives of these families. Sergei Rachinsky joined an already existing phenomenon and raised it to more high level.
The very first school was opened by his father, Alexander Antonovich, a retired major. While serving in St. Petersburg, he was friendly with A. A. Delvig, communicated with poets of Pushkin’s circle and future Decembrists. He laid the foundation for the richest Tatev archive and library. In 1861 he built a school for peasant children, making its trustees his eldest son Vladimir and daughter Varvara, who became its first teachers. Sergei Alexandrovich later began teaching there. In 1871, a public school was opened in the village. Sergievka, Vyazhlinsky volost, Kirsanovsky district Tambov province, the founder and trustee of which was Sergei Alexandrovich’s cousin, Sofya Sergeevna Chicherina (nee Boratynskaya). By 1891, the school had 91 students, among whom were the future archbishop, Orthodox ascetic, missionary, and spiritual writer. Veniamin (Fedchenkov), comes from a family of former serf peasants, the Boratynskys.
A man of diverse knowledge and interests, he was engaged in literary creativity. Together with his sister Varvara Alexandrovna, he published the “Tatev Collection” with the most valuable materials: letters, drawings, poems that were kept on the estate by E. Baratynsky, V. Zhukovsky, A. Fet, P. Vyazemsky. He wrote talented articles about literature, painting, and music. He collaborated with the magazine “Rural School” and composed two plots for Tchaikovsky’s operas, which remained unimplemented.
In the school art workshop, Rachinsky himself taught painting, drawing and drawing classes. His relative, the artist E. A. Dmitriev-Mamontov, also gave lessons here. During his visits to Tatev, S.V. Smolensky, a musician and famous leader of the Court Choir, worked with the school choir. He also led the selection of the best singers from the school to study in the choir of the Synodal School.
In 1891, the Academy of Sciences elected S. A. Rachinsky as its corresponding member.
Many university graduates came to Tatevo to work under his leadership. Famous teachers-scientists N.M. Gorbov, V.A. Lebedev, teachers A.D. Voskresensky, A. Golitsyn went through the “Rachinsky school”.
Since 1878, the school had the status of a parochial school. In the 70-80s. XIX century - four-year, and in 1898 - six-year. Until 1924, it bore the name of its founder, Sergei Alexandrovich Rachinsky, then his name, as well as his merits, were forgotten for decades. After the Great Patriotic War The school received the status of a secondary general education school. In 1998, the name of S. A. Rachinsky was returned to the school. Since 1974, a local history museum has been operating at the school. Thanks to the work of local residents under the leadership of the director of the Tatev school L. A. Ali-Zade, in 2000 the museum received the status of a municipal museum of local history named after N. P. Bogdanov-Belsky.
Sergei Alexandrovich died on May 15, 1902, on his birthday, in the arms of Arkady Averyanovich Seryakov (he is depicted in Bogdanov-Belsky’s painting “At the Sick Teacher”), one of his students and successors, to whom he bequeathed to continue his life’s work. After A. A. Seryakov (died in the 1930s) became the head of the Tatev public school, his granddaughter and great-granddaughter also taught at the Tatev school.
S. A. Rachinsky was buried in Tatevo in the family crypt.
Memory and history
- There is still a school in Tatevo, founded by S. A. Rachinsky and now bearing his name. The brick school building was built in 1907, but after the death of the teacher.
- According to the testimony of L. Yu. Strelkova, a pupil of the school and the author of a historical and pedagogical description of the activities of the school in Tatevo, in the late 20s. In the 20th century, the estate was plundered, the remains were thrown out of the family crypt, iron was forged on the marble tombstones, the ponds and garden ensemble of the estate were destroyed.
- Soviet historiographers claimed that during the retreat in March 1943, the Germans broke down and took away the parquet from the Rachinsky noble house, and blew up the house itself. Gravestones were also removed from the family tomb. The park with the rare plants grown here by S. A. Rachinsky was almost completely cut down.
- A German military hospital and a German military cemetery (not preserved) were established in Tatevo.
- According to some sources, Mother Catherine (Countess Evgenia Borisovna Efimovskaya), the first abbess of the Lesninsky Holy Mother of God Monastery (a convent in France), worked at Rachinsky’s school before becoming a monk. The school of the Lesninsky Monastery was in many ways a continuation of Rachinsky’s work.
- Filipp Nikitich Nikitin taught at the school for 15 years. He died in 1907 at the age of 46. Buried in the village. Tatevo.
- Tchaikovsky's String Quartet No. 1 (Quartet N1, D major), in four parts(composed and instrumental in February 1871 in Moscow) is dedicated to S. A. Rachinsky, whom Tchaikovsky met in the Artistic Circle.
Famous students of the Rachinsky school
- Bogdanov-Belsky, Nikolai Petrovich (1868-1945) - an outstanding Russian artist, a student until the spring of 1882, one of three young men employed in the icon-painting workshop at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
- Nikonov, Titus - Russian artist, portrait painter, student until the spring of 1882, then was employed in the icon-painting workshop at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Graduated from art school. T. Nikonov was from a wealthy peasant family; His artistic abilities manifested themselves early. It was especially easy for him to draw images of faces and human figures, but he rarely received praise from teachers, because S. A. Rachinsky noticed impatience in him, a desire to achieve a quick result without painstaking work. However, thanks to the hard work instilled in him, T. Nikonov graduated from art school and became a portrait painter. A plaster medallion with a profile of Rachinsky, his work, is known. Vasily Yan reports that “The other one turned out to be a loser.” Another source reports that T. Nikonov, having got married, did not continue his studies. There is no information about his further fate.
- Peterson, Ivan - Russian artist, Russified Latvian, student until the spring of 1882, then was employed in the icon-painting workshop at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. I. Peterson became a good icon painter and also painted portraits. After graduation, I. Peterson worked as an art teacher at the Novo-Alexandrovskaya Novikov school in the Kozlovsky district of the Tambov province, but died very young.
- Bogdanov I. L. - infectious disease specialist, doctor medical sciences, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences.
- Vasiliev, Alexander Petrovich (September 6, 1868 - September 5, 1918) - archpriest, spiritual father of the royal family, teetotaler pastor, patriot-monarchist.
- Sinev, Nikolai Mikhailovich (December 10, 1906 - September 4, 1991) - Doctor of Engineering. Sciences (1956), prof. (1966), honorable mention. worker of science and technology of the RSFSR. In 1941 - deputy. Ch. tank designer. 1948-61 - beginning OKB at Kirovsky plant. In 1961-91 - deputy. prev state USSR Institute on the use of atomic energy. Stalin's and State etc. (1943, 1951, 1953, 1967).
- Tretyakov, Nikolai Stepanovich (1873-1942), teacher at the Moscow school, Malakhovsky gymnasium, Moscow University. A. L. Shanyavsky; staged productions in the children's folk theater; created a museum children's creativity, was engaged in pedagogical work and children's artistic education together with V. D. Polenov, S. A. Rachinsky, N. V. Gilyarovskaya.
Main works
- 1881 - “Notes on rural schools”
- 1882 - “Folk art and rural school”
- 1888 - “From the notes of a rural teacher”
- 1891 - “Rural School”
Mathematics aids:
- "1001 mental arithmetic problems"
- "Arithmetic fun"
- "Geometric fun."
Gallery
Grave of S.A. Rachinsky in Tatevo
Ruins of the Rachinsky estate in Tatevo
Tatev Secondary School named after. S.A. Rachinsky
Trinity Church in the village of Tatevo, representatives of the Rachinsky family are buried in the fence
Until recently, the activities of Sergei Aleksandrovich Rachinsky, an ascetic teacher who lived in the 19th century (1833-1902), received very little attention in the history of Russian pedagogy. Although Rachinsky’s contemporaries believed that “For our pedagogy, his significance... is immeasurably great... Undoubtedly, the time will come when his name will be for our teaching the same guiding star, the same slogan as the name of Pestalozzi serves for Western European teachers and for the whole world of teachers the name of the Slav John Amos Comenius"1.
Sergei Alexandrovich Rachinsky was an outstanding personality. He received an excellent education at the faculties of natural sciences at Moscow, Bern and Jena universities. Wherever Rachinsky lived, in Russia or abroad, he everywhere became a welcome member of the best intelligent society. In Weimar he was received at the Royal Court, which preserved the best traditions of the era of Schiller and Goethe; was good friend the great composer and pianist Franz Liszt, who wrote music based on his spiritual poems. One of his Viennese teachers, the famous botanist M.Ya. Schleiden (1804-1881) valued his student so highly that he included his private letter on the relationship of art to nature as the preface to his classic work “Die Pflanze”. Another friend of Rachinsky, the famous historian of philosophy Kuno Fischer, a professor at the University of Jena, persuaded him to devote himself to philosophy, for which he saw special abilities in him.
But the career did not attract Rachinsky. Having defended first his master's thesis in Moscow, then his doctoral dissertation and becoming the head of the department of plant physiology at Moscow University, Sergei Aleksandrovich did not limit himself to scientific studies and teaching. Being a deeply believing Orthodox man, he could not remain indifferent to the matter of spiritual perfection, because Christ said: Be ye therefore perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48), he could not remain indifferent to the matter of spirituality.
Realizing and improving his qualities such as a passionate interest in people, rare sociability, and the ability to find the good sides in people, Rachinsky constantly took care of his students, their material and, most importantly, moral well-being. This helped Sergei Alexandrovich discover his teaching talent. But Rachinsky showed it more fully in his native village of Tatevo, Smolensk province, where at his own expense he built a new school with spacious classrooms and a dormitory for Christian children. Rachinsky himself moved to this building, becoming a rural teacher.
He took such an important step in life because he believed that “the work of the public school is wider and deeper than any other social activity. In order to overcome it, we need to perform an internal feat. We need to get out of the labyrinth of contradictions into which our entire internal history of modern times has led us - a joint expansion of our mental horizon and a narrowing of our spiritual horizons...”
For modern man It may not be clear why such a highly educated teacher as Sergei Aleksandrovich Rachinsky needed to expand his spiritual horizons and perform an inner feat, just in order to successfully implement a four-year education program in a rural school.
And here we need a short excursion into the history of Russian pedagogy. The time in which Rachinsky created his famous public school, and not just one, but 20, 4 of which were supported entirely at his own expense, was characterized by a sharp rise in the development of Russian pedagogy. Enthusiastic teachers who visited Western countries to directly get acquainted with European primary education encountered pronounced national features in education there. The Germans had their own national schools, the French had theirs, and the British had theirs.
Naturally, the question arose: what kind of schools should there be in Russia? It seemed that the answer should be one: Russian schools. But, alas, there were a negligibly small number of them in Russia. And the reason for this was, first of all, the weak development of national self-awareness among the Russian people. The national self-denial and “alienism” of the eighteenth century was passed on not only to the nineteenth century, but through the 20th century it passed into the consciousness of modern Russians. Since the time of Peter I, foreign countries have seemed to Russian society as an ideal of earthly well-being.
The consequences of such anti-national thinking were noted by A.S. Pushkin, who in the note “On Public Education” compiled for the government of Nicholas the First, wrote: “It is not just the influence of foreign ideologism that is detrimental to our fatherland; education, or better said, lack of education, is the root of all evil.” A.S. Pushkin points here to the “lack of education and morality” in modern youth. According to the poet’s observation, a young man who received a general education under the guidance of a foreign tutor or in a closed educational institution, “enters the world without any solid knowledge, without any positive rules: every thought is new to him, every news has an influence on him.” These words can be attributed today not only to modern Pushkin’s youth, but also to all of our Russian society, which is based on no fundamental life principles and is subject to almost any foreign influence.
There is no need to conquer a people with such an upbringing and life position; they can simply be convinced that we are all, in the words of Professor V. Tsarevsky, “people with a pan-European official face and soul, without nationality, without a fatherland.”
If you delve deeper into the history of education in Russia, then it can be divided into two fairly broad periods: the first, starting after the Baptism of Rus', lasted until the 16th century; the second - from the 16th century to the present day.
How is ancient Russian education characterized? First of all, the fact that the centers of education and centers of culture, by the will of the ruling power during this period, were monasteries and temples. Holy Prince Vladimir, showing himself as an example of a Russian Christian sovereign, in his Charter defined the princely tithe (in modern terms - 10% state budget- let’s figure out how much that is?) donate to the Church for charitable causes and from these funds he established schools for people of all classes, teaching them the Word of God and setting an example of pious behavior. According to Professor Pogodin, every new diocese then became a new educational district, a new monastery - a gymnasium, a new church - a public school.
The essence and purpose of Old Russian education can be determined based on the etymology of the word “education”, the root of which is the word “image”. For the consciousness of our ancestors there was no question: what kind of “image” is meant. Having accepted Christianity, that is, having seen and experienced all its spiritual beauty and assimilated its moral values, the self-consciousness of our people began to be guided by it in all areas of life. The alpha and omega of the entire ancient Russian culture became the commandment of the Savior: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). Therefore, the purpose of education was exclusively religious in nature, and it was seen, first of all, in restoring in man the image of God lost during the Fall.
It is known that a person who has sincerely turned to Christ is initially overwhelmed, as a rule, with a special selfless burning - he is ready for the most decisive deeds, capable of complete dedication. It was precisely such a zealous impulse that gripped the newly converted ancient Russian people. Recreating the image of God in oneself became the cherished goal of a great many of our ancestors. The ideals of Christianity were not an abstract theory for them, but were vividly embodied in specific people who made up the council of Russian saints.
But over time, the situation began to change. At the turn of the 15th-16th centuries in Russia, a departure began not only from the previous type of education, but also a change in the principles of church and public life in general. The reverence of the Russian people for everything that the Church gave him gradually began to concentrate primarily on the forms (rites, traditions, external splendor) of church life to the detriment of its content.
Starting from the 16th century, the Russian calendar shows a sharp reduction in the number of “venerables,” that is, saints from among the monks who have reached the maximum possible likeness to the Lord Jesus Christ in their internal properties. And in education authority spiritual perfection was gradually replaced by the authority of teaching and book encyclopedicism. Education, as a result of spiritual regression, began to acquire an increasingly rationalistic Western character, since the goal of Western-type education is not to make a person spiritually more perfect, but to give him as much knowledge as possible for the vain earthly life and knowledge for the sake of knowledge itself.
Thus, education in Russia, which developed for centuries within the framework of a religious worldview, by the beginning of the 19th century, took the path of secularization. The scholastic type of education, in a slightly changed form, exists in our country to this day. The first attempts to abandon it began to be made in the middle of the 19th century by such teachers as S.A. Rachinsky, K.P. Pobedonostsev, M.N. Katkov, K.D. Ushinsky.
Rachinsky was completely sincerely convinced that the Russian people were “Christian par excellence.” He said: “The task of a school like the 60s to make a “person” out of a child is absolutely incomprehensible to the parents of our children; they firmly believe that a child will become a “man” without having seen the alphabet; The school’s desire to make good Christians out of children is understandable and kind to everyone.” After 6-7 years of teaching, Sergei Alexandrovich became convinced that peasant parents sent their children to school not only and not so much for learning to read and write, but because they were confident that the school would instill in the child qualities corresponding to the ideal of a perfect person, qualities of a true Christian. In the behavior of an Orthodox person, such manifestations of morality were valued as respect for elders, care for the elderly, children, helpless people, mercy, peacefulness, mutual assistance, hard work, conscientiousness, patriotism and much more. Unfortunately, modern schools do not have such a basis.
“And therefore,” Rachinsky wrote, “our school should be not only a school of arithmetic and elementary grammar, but, first of all, a school of Christian teaching and good morals, a school of Christian life under the guidance of the pastors of the Church.”
This was the Rachinsky public school. A lot of space in her educational process was given to the Law of God and the Church Slavonic language. The Law of God was conducted by the priest in the form of an intimate conversation. The Church Slavonic language was taught by Sergei Aleksandrovich himself; he was deeply convinced that reading in the Church Slavonic language was a direct path to conscious reading in Russian, that is, the path to solid literacy.
This point of view was also shared by the great Russian scientist Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, who wrote in his famous preface “On the Use of Church Books in the Russian Language” wonderful words: “The Russian language in full strength, beauty and richness is not subject to change and decline, as long as the Russian church will be decorated with the praise of God in the Slavonic (i.e. Church Slavonic) language”2.
The Rachinsky school was truly distinguished from others by the high literacy and strength of knowledge, skills and abilities of its students. Reading in Church Slavonic gave public school students access to the knowledge of the liturgical circle and, together with Holy Scripture and the Lives of the Saints, provided constant food for the mind, imagination, and moral reflection, encouraging the ability for serious reading, which is the only useful and desirable thing.
The main didactic requirement of S. A. Rachinsky is to teach not for an exam, but for life. Therefore, his school additionally taught agriculture, beekeeping, carpentry and joinery. At Rachinsky's school, in the dormitory he set up, about thirty boys from remote villages lived permanently. The students themselves were in charge: they chopped wood, lit the stove, carried water, washed the floors, cleaned and tidied up the school and dormitory, and helped the cook cook. There was no watchman; the boys also performed his duties. They themselves worked in the vegetable garden, bee garden, school garden and flower garden.
Rachinsky’s painstaking work with gifted children deserves special attention. Thanks to his help, such talented artists as T. Nikonov, I. Peterson, and N. P. Bogdanov-Belsky received further education. T. Nikonov graduated from art school and became a portrait painter. I. Peterson S. A. Rachinsky sent him to study at the icon painting workshop in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Sergei Alexandrovich treated Bogdanov as his own son. It was Rachinsky who recognized the bright talent of an artist in the shepherdess, the son of a lonely farmhand. For N.P. Bogdanov-Belsky set up a workshop in the Rachinsky house. Who does not know such paintings by the painter as “At the School Door”, “Oral Account”, “Essay”, “Students”, “Beginners”, etc. The prototypes of the heroes of these paintings were students and teachers of the Tatev school. In the school art workshop, Rachinsky himself taught painting, drawing and drawing classes. His relative, the artist E. A. Dmitriev-Mamontov, also gave lessons here.
In the evenings and on holidays the school was filled with music. Rachinsky did a lot for the development and dissemination of choral polyphonic church singing: “To those who plunged into this world of strict greatness, deep insight into all movements human spirit, all the heights of musical art are accessible to him, he understands Bach, and Pelestrini, and the brightest inspirations of Mozart, and the most mystical darings of Beethoven and Glinka ... "
The school of Church Slavonic reading and singing, work and prayer was, in essence, a school of mental and moral education, school of spiritual culture. Revealing the secret of his school's success, S.A. Rachinsky wrote: “Our school is a Christian school, not only because its entire pedagogical plan is built in this direction, but also because students are looking for Christ in it, that students only for Christ’s sake can carry out those works that make it possible to some success."
If, therefore, school activities are a kind of religious feat for all its members, then, obviously, neither the standard nor the requirements of ordinary pedagogy can be applied to them. At Rachinsky's school, this was indicated by the length of instructional time. Sergei Alexandrovich has repeatedly pointed out in his articles that students are willing and able to study all day long. And that we must give in to this, contrary to all the requirements of pedagogical science. To understand how teachers and students endured these continuous classes from morning to evening, one must keep in mind the constant “... life in the spirit and for the spirit, a certain elevated structure of all interests, all relationships, a certain inspiration. Lessons in Tatev lost the meaning of individual lessons, but were components of a common whole, steps on one, clear and understandable path to spiritual perfection for everyone.”
The success of the Rachinsky school was greatly facilitated by the origin of many of its students from large peasant families. A peasant child, according to Rachinsky, is a born teacher. As soon as a child in the village begins to stand firmly on his feet, he is already entrusted with a younger brother or sister, that is, on the threshold of conscious life, he is entrusted with enormous responsibility for the life of a helpless and dear creature. This “pedagogical experience” of a peasant child helped the teacher to assign more intelligent students simple exercises with the younger ones.
But the biggest role in the upbringing of children, teachers, and peasant parents was played by the example of the highly moral personality of S. A. Rachinsky himself, who managed to accomplish his inner feat. For him, everyone was equal and loved. The importance of a teacher’s example has been noted by many outstanding teachers of the past. Thus, the thought of Y. A. Komensky that a teacher is a living example for students deserves attention; he must be virtuous, because it is impossible to perceive virtue with the help of various pictures and models, only the example of teachers influences children. It’s not enough to just explain how to act in life, you need to set an exemplary example yourself. As Sergei Alexandrovich wrote, “you need to win the right to read the Gospel to children without blushing.” And he won this right. For about a quarter of a century he was engaged in raising and teaching peasant children, devoting all his knowledge and energy to this until 1896, when, broken by illness, he was forced to stop his lessons.
I would like to end my speech with the words of Sergei Aleksandrovich Rachinsky, which, in my opinion, should become the leitmotif of modern pedagogy, advocating the revival of the traditions of the Russian school: “It is not good for people who are able and knowledgeable,” Rachinsky wrote, “to sit with their hands folded when their minds are and their hearts can be engaged on great job: raise and educate children. Our trouble is that, despite being able to do a lot and wanting a lot, we extremely rarely take on any new work and even less often finish what we started. We need to be bolder, then, perhaps, with the help of our efforts, the work of reviving spirituality will go uphill...”
From Materials of the International scientific-practical conference"Current problems of science in the context of Orthodox traditions." - Armavir: Armavir Orthodox Social Institute, 2008.
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