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Belarusian State University
Белару́скі Дзяржа́ўны Унівэрсытэ́т
Established	1921
Type:	Public
Rector:	Vasil Stražaŭ
Faculty:	15
Location	Minsk, Belarus
Website:	www.bsu.by/

Belarusian State University (BSU) (Belarusian: Белару́скі Дзяржа́ўны Унівэрсытэ́т; Russian: Белору́сский Госуда́рственный Университе́т), Minsk, Belarus, was founded on October 30, 1921.

The BSU is the major Belarusian university. In 2006 it had 15 major departments, 5 R&D institutes, 24 Research Centres, 114 R&D laboratories. The University employs over 2,400 lecturers and 1,000 research fellows; 1,900 of these hold Ph.D. or Sc.D. degrees. There are 16,000 undergraduate students at the university, as well as over 700 Ph.D. students.

Contents 1 History 2 Faculties 3 Rectors 4 See also 5 External links

Decision to establish Belarusian State University, as a first national university of Belarus, was made on 25 February 1919 by the government of the Byelorussian SSR. However, Minsk was occupied by the Polish army at the time, and the university was actually established in 1921 in Minsk.

Uładzimier Pičeta, historian and Slavonic languages expert, became first rector of the BSU. The university faculty was formed by professors and lecturers transferred from universities of Moscow, Kazan and Kiev. Faculty consisted of 14 professors, 49 lecturers and 10 teaching assistants. First graduates left the BSU in 1925.

Initially there have been three departments - Workers, Medicine and Humanities with 1,390 students among them. In 1922 a new Pedagogical department was established. In October 1927 post-graduate degrees became available.

During the 1930s the university became not only the key center for education and research in Soviet-controlled Belarus, but also led to branching out of specialized educational institutions and to the establishment of Belarusian Academy of Sciences.

By 1941, just before the 20th anniversary of the university, there have been 6 departments: Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics, Biology, History, Geography and Languages. There have been 33 chairs, 17 professors, 41 associate professors and 90 lectures and teaching assistants. There was also a Workers Department (providing part-time education to full-time employees of factories and plants) and special part-time Polish- and Yiddish-language sections.

In June 1941 Minsk was occupied by Nazi Germany; some students and faculty were evacuated to the east, some joined the Soviet Army or partisan brigades. Some of university buildings were destroyed, some were used by the Germans as hospitals and offices.

In May 1943 Belarusian State University was re-established at Skhodnya, a suburban settlement to the north-east of Moscow. Some of former students and faculty joined the re-established university. Its libraries were newly formed through donations from universities and colleges of Moscow.

In August 1944 first group of students and faculty returned to Minsk, and regular classes re-started in autumn 1944. By September 1945 there have been over 300 students in the re-established university in Minsk. However, pre-war buildings and research facilities were not restored until late 1950. By then, there have been 7 departments, 35 chairs, and 170 faculty at the BSU.

During the 1950s-1980s the university significantly evolved: new departments have been established, new buildings have been built, new research facilities have been added. Numbers of both faculty and students increased dramatically. In the former USSR Belarusian State University became one of key research and educational establishments and received several government awards for excellency.

Since Belarus independence (1991) the BSU continues to be the major university of the country. In the early 1990s it was a center of Belarusian national revival, with many lecturers (and even entire departments) choosing to switch from Russian to Belarusian as main language of teaching and research.

• Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science
• Faculty of Biology
• Faculty of Chemistry
• Faculty of Economics
• Faculty of Geography
• Faculty of History
• Faculty of International Relations
• Faculty of Journalism
• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics
• Faculty of Philology
• Philosophy and Social Studies Faculty
• Faculty of Physics
• Preparatory Faculty for Foreigners
• Faculty of Radiophysics and Electronics

• Uładzimier Pičeta (1921 - 1929)
• Jazep Karanieŭski (1929 - 1931)
• Dźjakaŭ (1934 - 1935)
• Mikałaj Bliaducha (1937)
• Babravicki (1938)
• Parfion Savicki (1938 - 1944)
• Uładzimier Tamaševič (1946 - 1949)
• Ivan Čymburh (1949 - 1952)
• Kanstancin Łukašoŭ (1952 - 1957)
• Šaŭčenka (1957 - 1972)
• Usievaład Sikorski (1972 - 1978)
• Uładzimier Bieły (1978 - 1983)
• Leanid Kisieleŭski (1983 - 1989)
• Fiodar Kapucki (1990 - 1995)
• Alaksandar Kazulin (1996 - 2003)
• Vasil Stražaŭ (2003 - )

• List of colleges and universities
• Minsk

Coordinates: 53°53′38″N, 27°32′49″E

• Belarus State University Website (Belarusian) (English)
• Chemistry Department(Russian)
• R&D cite of BSU(Russian) (English)