Tempering an Enlightened Educator: Frédéric-César de La Harpe at the Russian Imperial Court (1783–1795)

Among all the educators who cared for him from his early childhood, Alexander I gave a particular honor to only one, the Swiss teacher Frédéric-César de La Harpe (1754–1838), who, invited to teach the French language, was further his instructor in geography, history, arithmetic, and geometry, as wel...

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Main Authors: Andrei Yu. Andreev, Danièle Tosato-Rigo
Format: Article
Language:Bulgarian
Published: Moscow State University of Education 2017-12-01
Series:Slovene
Subjects:
Online Access:http://slovene.ru/ojs/index.php/slovene/article/view/313
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spelling doaj-06ed20772d624c10b934a48f85b8beee2020-11-25T00:55:12ZbulMoscow State University of EducationSlovene2304-07852305-67542017-12-0162174Tempering an Enlightened Educator: Frédéric-César de La Harpe at the Russian Imperial Court (1783–1795)Andrei Yu. Andreev0Danièle Tosato-Rigo1Université d’État Lomonossov de MoscouUniversité de LausanneAmong all the educators who cared for him from his early childhood, Alexander I gave a particular honor to only one, the Swiss teacher Frédéric-César de La Harpe (1754–1838), who, invited to teach the French language, was further his instructor in geography, history, arithmetic, and geometry, as well as the foundations of philosophy. This Swiss teacher has been regarded in historical studies as the fortunate “chosen one” by Catherine II, who summoned him to direct Alexander’s education and who rewarded him accordingly afterwards. The present article peers into the backstage of the long educational process (1783–1795) in which he was engaged, revealing the less idyllic facts. Based on unpublished documents in Russian and Swiss archives, this study presents a picture of the place of an educator on the main stage of his activity, the Russian Imperial court, and thus the interplay of the history of practice and of ideas and their representations. Did La Harpe himself choose to work as an educator? Did Catherine II really search and find the Swiss teacher for his abilities? Did his teaching indeed represent a concretization of Catherine’s thoughts on this matter? And finally, how did La Harpe himself estimate his situation at the court, which was transformed into a “success story” only after 1814? This article, offering some answers to these questions, adds to the analysis the different circumstances of La Harpe’s appearance and later life at the court; the difficulties he faced in spite of the support of Catherine II, which was, regrettably, withdrawn unexpectedly; and, finally, the permanent discrepancies between his pedagogical ideals and the everyday studies in which he engaged.http://slovene.ru/ojs/index.php/slovene/article/view/313éducationLumièresRussieSuisseAlexandre ICatherine IILa Harpe
collection DOAJ
language Bulgarian
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Andrei Yu. Andreev
Danièle Tosato-Rigo
spellingShingle Andrei Yu. Andreev
Danièle Tosato-Rigo
Tempering an Enlightened Educator: Frédéric-César de La Harpe at the Russian Imperial Court (1783–1795)
Slovene
éducation
Lumières
Russie
Suisse
Alexandre I
Catherine II
La Harpe
author_facet Andrei Yu. Andreev
Danièle Tosato-Rigo
author_sort Andrei Yu. Andreev
title Tempering an Enlightened Educator: Frédéric-César de La Harpe at the Russian Imperial Court (1783–1795)
title_short Tempering an Enlightened Educator: Frédéric-César de La Harpe at the Russian Imperial Court (1783–1795)
title_full Tempering an Enlightened Educator: Frédéric-César de La Harpe at the Russian Imperial Court (1783–1795)
title_fullStr Tempering an Enlightened Educator: Frédéric-César de La Harpe at the Russian Imperial Court (1783–1795)
title_full_unstemmed Tempering an Enlightened Educator: Frédéric-César de La Harpe at the Russian Imperial Court (1783–1795)
title_sort tempering an enlightened educator: frédéric-césar de la harpe at the russian imperial court (1783–1795)
publisher Moscow State University of Education
series Slovene
issn 2304-0785
2305-6754
publishDate 2017-12-01
description Among all the educators who cared for him from his early childhood, Alexander I gave a particular honor to only one, the Swiss teacher Frédéric-César de La Harpe (1754–1838), who, invited to teach the French language, was further his instructor in geography, history, arithmetic, and geometry, as well as the foundations of philosophy. This Swiss teacher has been regarded in historical studies as the fortunate “chosen one” by Catherine II, who summoned him to direct Alexander’s education and who rewarded him accordingly afterwards. The present article peers into the backstage of the long educational process (1783–1795) in which he was engaged, revealing the less idyllic facts. Based on unpublished documents in Russian and Swiss archives, this study presents a picture of the place of an educator on the main stage of his activity, the Russian Imperial court, and thus the interplay of the history of practice and of ideas and their representations. Did La Harpe himself choose to work as an educator? Did Catherine II really search and find the Swiss teacher for his abilities? Did his teaching indeed represent a concretization of Catherine’s thoughts on this matter? And finally, how did La Harpe himself estimate his situation at the court, which was transformed into a “success story” only after 1814? This article, offering some answers to these questions, adds to the analysis the different circumstances of La Harpe’s appearance and later life at the court; the difficulties he faced in spite of the support of Catherine II, which was, regrettably, withdrawn unexpectedly; and, finally, the permanent discrepancies between his pedagogical ideals and the everyday studies in which he engaged.
topic éducation
Lumières
Russie
Suisse
Alexandre I
Catherine II
La Harpe
url http://slovene.ru/ojs/index.php/slovene/article/view/313
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