The versatility of the personality of Peter the Great was discussed at KBSU

September 29, 2022, as part of the celebration of the 350th anniversary of the birth of Peter I in the library of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H.M. Berbekov hosted a student conference “The centuries-old legends about you are sacred to us”, dedicated to the theme of the artistic expression of the image of the first Emperor of All-Russian Peter in literature and timed to coincide with the Year of the cultural heritage of people of Russia. As the organizer of the conference, head of the scientific and educational center of the Russian language and literature, Nadezhda Chaika, noted:

«The purpose of the conference is to reveal the ambiguity, versatility of the personality of Peter I on literary material, to learn more about his contribution to the development of Russia and at the same time «about the other side of the coin» — the harsh disposition of the emperor of all Russia, the violation of the rule of law when introducing reforms».

Welcoming the participants of the meeting, an employee of the KBSU scientific library Madina Buranova expressed satisfaction that students are frequent guests of the library as a center for disseminating knowledge, storing cultural heritage, spiritual and intellectual communication.

«I have no doubt that the conference will be held in the form of an interesting discussion, where you will discover new facets of the personality of Peter the Great», — said Aimani Gerieva, deputy director for automation and technical support of library processes.

The contradictory character of Peter the Great is well reflected in the works of poets. This was demonstrated by SHI students in the direction of «Russian Language and Literature» Kamilla Galaova, Arianna Kagermazova, Asiyat Bashieva and Amelia Rassokha, giving a detailed analysis of A.S. Pushkin, I. Klyushnikov, E. Glushakov and B. Chichibabin. If the first two poets glorify Peter, they call him “either an academician, then a hero, then a navigator, then a carpenter … there was an eternal worker on the throne” (A. Pushkin) or “Wonderful, Godly man!” (I. Klyushnikov), then, for example, B. Chichibabin gives a negative assessment of Peter’s personality: «Satan’s warrior, caretaker of the stone dead», «moral freak, zealot of deeds, bulk of flesh!» etc.

At the conference, excerpts from other classical works were heard: the poems “The Bronze Horseman”, “Poltava” by A. S. Pushkin, the novel “Antichrist. Peter and Alexei» by D. Merezhkovsky, the story «Wax Person» by Y. Tynyanov and others. Summarizing the opinions expressed by the students, the head of the Scientific and Educational Center of the Russian Language and Literature of the KBSU made the following conclusions:

«It is impossible to make cardinal changes in a short period of time. And yet, Peter did everything that depended on him so that the state flourished. It was thanks to his reforms that Russia gained more influence abroad. But she still had opponents, and not a few. Many countries continued to consider this country barbaric for a long time. So were all of Peter’s reforms positive? Yes, in part, but any action has different consequences, so it’s impossible to say for sure. For the state, his rule was indispensable. It is unlikely that another ruler could do more for the country than he did. But for ordinary people, the reforms of Peter I became a problem. However, all changes are initially poorly perceived. And yet people got the opportunity to study, there were more jobs, opportunities for people of different classes. So if you look in the prism of perspectives, then even for ordinary people the reforms were for the better».