Uzhhorod gymnasium

Uzhhorod gymnasium (Ужгородська гімназія; Uzhhorodska himnaziia). One of the oldest secondary schools in Ukraine, established in Uzhhorod in 1649 on the basis of an earlier Jesuit college. Until 1778 Jesuits continued to teach in the gymnasium, using Latin as the language of instruction (except for religion classes, which were taught in the Ukrainian redaction of Church Slavonic). In the 18th century approximately 150–200 students attended the school. In 1778 it was given the status of an Austrian royal gymnasium; the primary language of instruction was (until 1790) German, then Latin again (until 1796), and finally Hungarian. Two extra grades of philosophy were added to the course of study in 1856, the number thereby being raised to eight. In the 1880s strong pressures were exerted to make the gymnasium a totally Hungarian institution despite the fact that most of the staff and students were Ukrainian. During the interwar period the gymnasium was first Ukrainized and later Russified, according to the desires of the directors and regional education supervisors (who were alternately Ukrainophile or Russophile in orientation). Approximately 800 students attended the school at that time. In 1945, after the Soviet occupation of Transcarpathia, the gymnasium was turned into a ten-year school. One of the school's most notable directors was Andrii Alyskevych.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]