How it started
History
The university was first known as the Mining School (Горное училище) until 1804, when it became the Mining Cadet Corps (Горный кадетский корпус); in 1833, it became the Institute of the Corps of Mining Engineers (Институт корпуса горных инженеров). Since 1866, it has been known as the Mining Institute (Горный институт). It is still widely known in Russia as Gorny, or 'Mining', referring to its previous name. During the Soviet period, it was renamed after Georgi Plekhanov, who attended the institute in the 1870s, becoming known as the G. V. Plekhanov Leningrad State Mining Institute and Technical University. Between 1958 and 1960, a branch of the institute was opened in Vorkuta, along with night schools in Slantsy, Monchegorsk, and Kirovsk. Since 1869 the institute has also been the headquarters of the Russian Mineralogical Society.
During the Siege of Leningrad, the building was used as a manufacturing base for producing explosives and grenades.
The university also houses a church, dedicated to St. Macarius of Egypt, which first opened its doors in 1805. It was closed, along with other churches, by the Soviet government in 1918, and was used first as a cinema and then as a gym, which resulted in damage to the interior. However, in 1996 it was recognized once more as a church and restored fully and is now functional.
The university was renamed Saint Petersburg State Mining University in 2011, and, after merging with the North-West Open Technical University in 2012, it was known as the National Mineral Resources University. The university was renamed Saint Petersburg Mining University in 2016.
From Wikipedia’s article on Saint Petersburg Mining University, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2