Year: 1988

Postcard made in the Soviet Union, 1988, with the building of the Smolny Institute. The establishment of the institute in 1764 was a significant step in making education available for females in Russia: The provision of formal education for women began only in 1764 and 1765, when Catherine II established first the Smolny Institute for girls of the nobility in Saint Petersburg and then the Novodevichii Institute for the daughters of commoners. The Smolny was Russia’s first educational establishment for women and continued to function under the personal patronage of the Russian Empress until just before the 1917 revolution. Vladimir Lenin chose the building as Bolshevik headquarters immediately before and during the October Revolution. It was Lenin’s residence for several months, until the national government was moved to the Moscow Kremlin in March 1918. After that, the Smolny became the headquarters of the local Communist Party.