Bibliophile Peeter Tulviste - History of the University of Tartu

The task of Peeter Tulviste as a rector was shaping the future of the university. His knowledge of the university’s history greatly supported this role, and as a bibliophile, he had a keen interest in volumes reflecting the activities of the university. It was said already during his lifetime that his library contained a lot of valuable books on the history of the University of Tartu. Unlike many of the rarities in his collection, the books published about the university in the 19th and 20th centuries were intended for a broad readership and had a print run not limited to just a hundred or fewer copies. On the contrary, they were printed in large quantities, especially in connection with the university anniversaries. However, even these books have become rare over time and, thus, valuable for bibliophiles.

Excellent examples include the books published in 1902 to mark the centenary of the imperial university. First, the two volumes of the lexicon of professors and lecturers who taught at the University of Tartu should be mentioned. The lexicon, compiled by astronomy professor Grigori Levitski, remains to this day a valuable reference for those interested in the history of the university. Also noteworthy is the outstanding work by Baltic German historian Friedrich Bienemann about the correspondence of the university’s first rector, Georg Friedrich Parrot, with Russian emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I. Although the outspoken Parrot did not receive many replies from the emperors, the published letters are a valuable source for understanding the early years of the university until the 1830s. The third book published for the university’s anniversary also belongs to the same category: the memoirs of Johann Wilhelm Krause, the architect of the university and professor of agriculture, speak about the first ten years of the reopened university.

A particularly turbulent period in the university’s history – when Peeter Tulviste was the rector – is illuminated in the 1998 publication Rektoriraamat. Artikleid, sõnavõtte, intervjuusid.

Erki Tammiksaar

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