STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS IN THE UNIVERSITIES OF DNIEPER UKRAINE IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURIES

Abstract

In the article, institutionalization process of student organizations in universities of Dnieper Ukraine in second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries is investigated. Such first organizations in this region appeared in the first half of the 19th century, however their mass occurrence took place at the end of 1850s. In second half of the 19th century the student organizations had illegal or semi-legal character, and only since 1899 the process of their legalization has begun. The spectrum of these associations was wide enough and covered the university youth’s all spheres of life and activities – scientific, cultural, national, religious, political etc. Some kinds of the organizations were more characteristic up to the beginning of the investigated period (regional communities, self-education clubs), others emerged later – at the end of the 19th – early 20th centuries (scientific, sports ones), the third were poorly presented in the student environment throughout this period (religious ones). The student organizations had charitable, educational, and other functions. At the same time, the student organizations became multifunctional with the gradual tendency to shift to politics. Besides, the process of institutionalization was not strongly pronounced because informal associations were typical phenomenon in the student environment throughout all the investigated period, and the organizations mainly existed only short time.

Key words: university, students, student organization, corporatism.