Ivan Betskoy was an educational reformer in Russia. He served as an educational advisor to Catherine II. He worked as the President of the Imperial Academy of Arts for thirty long years, i.e. between 1764 and 1794. He was the initiator of male and female education in Russia through the state boarding schools.
Ivan Betskoy's Life
Ivan Betskoy was born on 14th February, 1704 in Stockholm, Sweden. His father Prince Ivan Trubetskoy was a field marshal in Russia. Initially he served the aide-de-camp of his father. He then became actively involved with the overthrow of the government, which led Elizaveta Petrovna to occupy the Russian throne. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna being grateful to him, appointed him as the General Major.
It is said that Ivan Betskoy had a relation with Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein, whose daughter was betrothed to Empress's nephew, Grand Duke Heir. After Johanna Elizabeth's expulsion from Russia in the year 1747, Betskoy went to Paris to settle there. There, for 15 years he was into business with Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
In 1764, Ivan Betskoy was appointed as the President
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of the Imperial Academy of Arts by Catherine II, which he served for 30 years of his life. The Bronze Horseman and iron gates of Summer Garden were made on his proposals. Ivan Betskoy during the late 1780's was suffering from blindness. He died at the age of 92.
Educational Contribution of Ivan Betskoy
It was Ivan Betskoy, who in 1763 presented a written treatise to Empress Catherine named Statute for the Education of the Youth of Both Sexes. In this he mentioned his proposals of educating young boys and girls in State boarding schools of Russia.
He also emphasized that the education of children must be carried out in a generalized form rather than a specialized form. The Empress very much supported his ideas and soon the Society for the Training of Well-Born Girls was established. Betskoy was made the trustee of the institution. This was also the first educational institute for females in Russia.
On the Duties of Man and Citizen, was a book that was published by Betskoy along with Catherine II, to educate the students on their duties and responsibilities not only towards God but to the whole society. Some of Betskoy's manuals and aids were published in the year 1775 in Amsterdam.
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