Nezhin Pedagogical Institute

(full name, N. V Gogol Nezhin Pedagogical Institute), one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the USSR devoted to the humanities. Founded in 1820 as the Gymnasium of Higher Learning with funds provided by Prince A. A. Bezborodko, it was a physics and mathematics lycée from 1832 to 1840 and a law lycée from 1840 to 1875. It was reorganized as an institute of history and philology in 1875, and in 1920 it became a pedagogical institute.

In 1939 the Nezhin Pedagogical Institute was renamed in honor of N. V. Gogol, who had graduated from the Gymnasium of Higher Learning in 1828.

In 1973 the institute comprised departments of physics and mathematics, philology (Russian and Ukrainian language and literature), the natural sciences, English language, and music education. In addition there are correspondence and preparatory divisions, 18 subdepartments, and a branch laboratory. The library has about 500,000 volumes. In 1973–74 the institute had a student body of more than 4,000 and a faculty of about 200. In the Soviet period the institute has trained more than 25,000 teachers. It was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1970.