page_title: Petrozavodsk State University
section_title: University in the Great Patriotic War
hierarchical_section_title: Petrozavodsk State University / History / University in the Great Patriotic War
caption_attribution_description: English: Finnish advance in Karelia during the Continuation War (1941–1944). The gray line marks the border of 1920, until the start of the Winter War (1939–1940). Suomi: Englanninkielinen kartta Suomen armeijan etenemisestä jatkosodassa Svenska: Karta över den finländska framryckningen i Karelen under Fortsättningskriget (1941–1944). Den grå linjen betecknar 1920 års riksgräns, som gällde fram till Vinterkriget (1939–1940).
context_page_description: Petrozavodsk State University is a classical university in Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia, Russia.
  It was founded in 1940 as the Karelian-Finnish University and was renamed in 1956. The rector of Petrozavodsk State University is Prof. Anatoly V. Voronin.
context_section_description: The first school year was coming to an end, students were passing the session making plans for the summer. But these plans were not realized. On June 22, 1941 at 4.00 am the Great Patriotic War began. In connection with this event on June 28 the general university meeting was held in Petrozavodsk at which the participants expressed their desire to fight against the enemy and to give their strength for the victory over him. During the first months of the war the students, the members of staff, teachers went to the front, also the rector of the university T. I. Lekhen was among them. In total 328 man left to the war. The students and teachers made contribution to the struggle against the enemy not only at the battlefield but also in the rear they worked at the factories, built fortifications.
  At the end of the summer 1941 the front was approaching the city of Petrozavodsk (on October 1, 1941 Petrozavodsk was completely occupied by the Finnish army). The government decided to evacuate the university. They were able to take a significant part of the university property to the town of Syktyvkar Komi Republic. The university continued its work there cooperating closely with the Komi pedagogical institute. In this difficult period the leadership of the PetrSU was carried by K. D. Mirtopolsky. Vice-rector of two universities was the rector of the pedagogical institute G. P. Balin.
  In spite of the hardships of the war the research activities did not cease, although some research topics have changed: now they were focusing on the needs of defense industry, the tasks of the national economic development of the Northern region and an identifying the reserves for military needs. For example, scientists-geologists carried out the exploration of mineral resources in the Republic of Komi and the Urals, and the Department of Plant Physiology studied the frost-resisting ability of potato, the acclimatization of tobacco and sugar beets in the North.
  In June 1944 during the Svir-Petrozavodsk military operation there was the defeat of the invaders in the south of Karelia. On June 28 of that year soviet troops entered Petrozavodsk. In autumn the whole territory of Karelia was liberated. In June 1944 the government of the Karelo-Finnish SSR decided to return the university to Petrozavodsk. On July 30, 1944 the teachers with their families and students returned to Petrozavodsk from Syktyvkar. During the war the university building was destroyed, all remaining equipment and the library were destroyed. The students and the staff of the university had to make exert every effort on its reconstruction. In the reconstruction the leaders of the Karelian republic took an active part too. The number of teaching staff of the university increased thanks to the teachers who were returning from the front. The new school year 1944 started on October 2, and 242 students began to learn. In summer 1945 the university celebrated its fifth anniversary. In August 1945 in Petrozavodsk State University the new rector V. S. Chepurnov began his activity.
  Hard time of the Great Patriotic War the university survived with dignity, it didn't stop its activity and on the contrary – it directed all the energies for the victory. Its students, teachers and collaborators were working hard and were fighting on the front and in the rear. Unfortunately, not all of them were able to live up to a happy Victory Day. During the Great Patriotic War 90 students, teachers and collaborators were killed and were missing. The fate of 42 people is unknown. But in spite of everything in the period from 1942 to 1945 years 65 students graduated from the university, among them there were one geographer, three geologists, six mathematicians, 21 biologists, 34 historians and philologists.
caption: Finnish advance in Karelia during the Continuation War. Old border marked in grey.
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