Male gymnasium in Zhitomir

The construction of a male gymnasium in Zhitomir was started in 1861. Already in a year the building in Bolshaya Berdichevskaya street was completed. During a long period of time the male gymnasium in Zhitomir was the largest educational facility in Volyn and was highly respected.

Initially the gymnasium consisted of a single building. Several years later another building, which included flats for teachers and a library, was added. Main entrance to the male gymnasium was decorated with a large frontage that had rare trees and bushes and a fountain in the centre. The buildings were surrounded with a picturesque garden. All three buildings, the frontage and the garden constituted an architectural ensemble, which now has historical and sightseeing value.

Male gymnasium became a starting point for a lot of outstanding personalities who became famous and glorified Zhitomir region. Among people who were schooled in the gymnasium are Russian writer Vladimir Korolenko, academics and scholars Vladimir Podvysotsky, Vladimir Linsky, Vasily Omelyansky, Nikolay Dashkevich, professors Bogdan Shishkovsky, Konstantin Purievich and Vladimir Artsikhovsky. Composers Mikhail Skorulsky and Juliusz Zarembsky also studied there. The male gymnasium also educated Theophilius  Richter, the father of Svyatoslav Richter, professor of architecture Eugene Bilogrud, Vyacheslav Lipninsky, who became Ukrainian philosophical leader, and several other Ukrainian famous people also graduated from the male gymnasium. One of the teachers at the gymnasium was Pavel Korolyov, the father of the founder of Ukrainian space industry Sergey Korolyov.

Achitectural complex of male gymnasium in Zhitomir happened to remain unaltered since it was built. The only part that was reconstructed is one of the educational buildings of the gymnasium, where in 1919 Zhitomir pedagogical institute was opened. Nowadays the old building is still used as it should be: Zhitomir State Pedagogical University of Ivan Franko is situated there.

Address of the male gymnasium: Zhitomir, Bolshaya Berdichevskaya street, 40.