Homo novus and I.I. Betskoy's activities in the Russian Enlightenment area

Abstract

In the 18th century Russia entered the age of enlightenment. The main idea of this era in education was education of “new human” (isolation wards from the traditions of their ancestors was one of the fundamental conditions there). Ivan Betskoy led this task in our country during the second half of the century (this work took place under Russian Empress Catherine II’ patronage). This article deals with the main aspects of its activities, particularly in the following institutions: Imperial Academy of Arts, Cadet Corps, Smolny Institute for noble maidens. The article describes the specifics of the statutes of educational establishments and particularly data of their training programs also. Betskoy’ ideology and his teaching methods are marked. This article also analyzes the main Betskoy’ results, its positive and negative aspects.