University’s history is complicated and multifaceted: it started from the Institute for Noble Maidens named after Great Martyr Alexandra in 1843 when it was a closed female educational institution for the girls of noble birth and where they studied religion, math, history, geography, languages, gymnastics, literature, painting, music, and dancing. To keep this moment of University’s history the sculpture of maiden was placed in the hall of Medical Institute on the 17th of December, 2011 when the university celebrated its ‘birthday’.
After the October Revolution in 1918 Tambov State University was established by Lenin’s Decree. It was the main scientific and cultural regional center of that period of time when all professors and teachers came from Moscow State University. Three years later it was restructured into Tambov State Pedagogical Institute.
In 1930 Tambov State Pedagogical Institute included only 4 faculties: social-literary, physical-technical, chemical-biological, and agronomical. By the end of soviet period in the university’s history it included 8 faculties: Russian language and literature, foreign languages, natural, historical, physical culture, economical-law, and teaching in primary school. It provided education through 22 specialties for more than 5 thousand students. The faculty (378 teachers) included 25 professors, 23 Doctors of Science, 174 Candidates of Science, and 115 assistant professors.
The current Tambov State University was established by the decree of the President of Russian Federation on the 29th of December, 1994 through the cooperation of Tambov State Pedagogical Institute with Tambov State Institute of Culture.
