TY - JOUR

T1 - Архитектор Н.П. Никитин и его докторская диссертация о Монферране: механизмы организации и проведения защиты в 1945 году

AU - Любезников, Олег Анатольевич

N1 - Export Date: 23 March 2026; Cited By: 0; Correspondence Address: L.O. Anatolievich; Department of the Museum Management and Historical Monuments Preservation, Institute of Philosophy, Saint Petersburg State University, Russian Federation; email: o.lyubeznikov@spbu.ru

PY - 2026/2/27

Y1 - 2026/2/27

N2 - In modern historiography the dissertation culture in the USSR in the 1930s and 1940s is usually examined based on official sources: statements by dissertators, protocols and transcripts of defense procedures and opponents’ reviews. The informal process of preparing the defense, which was behind the scenes and involved selecting a benevolent academic council and official and unofficial opponents, remains in the shadows. In this article, based on numerous personal sources stored in a number of archival repositories in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the mechanisms for organizing and conducting the defense of the doctoral thesis of architect N.P. Nikitin in 1945 are reconstructed. Being a representative of the pre revolutionary architectural school of the Academy of Arts and engaged in the early Soviet decades not so much in original design and construction as in the restoration of architectural monuments of Leningrad, N.P. Nikitin by the end of the 1930s prepared a fundamental study on the history of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral and sought, by defending this work as a doctoral dissertation in accordance with the accepted regulations, to obtain the academic title of professor. The assistance provided to N.P. Nikitin by the greatest masters of architecture and restoration, academicians A.V. Shchusev and I.E. Grabar, who knew him well, contributed to his speedy defense and reflected the heterogeneity of the architectural community in the 1940s, which consisted of Soviet and pre-revolutionary specialists. © 2026, Aquilo. all right reserved.

AB - In modern historiography the dissertation culture in the USSR in the 1930s and 1940s is usually examined based on official sources: statements by dissertators, protocols and transcripts of defense procedures and opponents’ reviews. The informal process of preparing the defense, which was behind the scenes and involved selecting a benevolent academic council and official and unofficial opponents, remains in the shadows. In this article, based on numerous personal sources stored in a number of archival repositories in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the mechanisms for organizing and conducting the defense of the doctoral thesis of architect N.P. Nikitin in 1945 are reconstructed. Being a representative of the pre revolutionary architectural school of the Academy of Arts and engaged in the early Soviet decades not so much in original design and construction as in the restoration of architectural monuments of Leningrad, N.P. Nikitin by the end of the 1930s prepared a fundamental study on the history of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral and sought, by defending this work as a doctoral dissertation in accordance with the accepted regulations, to obtain the academic title of professor. The assistance provided to N.P. Nikitin by the greatest masters of architecture and restoration, academicians A.V. Shchusev and I.E. Grabar, who knew him well, contributed to his speedy defense and reflected the heterogeneity of the architectural community in the 1940s, which consisted of Soviet and pre-revolutionary specialists. © 2026, Aquilo. all right reserved.

KW - architect

KW - architecture

KW - dissertation culture

KW - Grabar

KW - history of science

KW - Montferrand

KW - Nikitin

KW - Shchusev

KW - thesis

M3 - статья

VL - 2026

SP - 173

EP - 187

JO - ДИАЛОГ СО ВРЕМЕНЕМ

JF - ДИАЛОГ СО ВРЕМЕНЕМ

SN - 2073-7564

IS - 94

ER -