Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
When talking about contemporaries of the Great Patriotic War, the first to be remembered are the participants in the military operations, and they do not forget about home front workers, scientists and teachers, but stories about ordinary students are rare. They did not throw themselves under tanks, defending their native land, did not stand two shifts in a row at the machine, did not organize production and did not save lives in hospitals, but they also lived their war years and remembered them forever – they performed a small student feat, receiving an education in a difficult time for the country and using it for the benefit of the Motherland in the post-war years. Today we will tell you about such a person in the “Scientific Regiment” section.
Ekaterina Valerianovna Petrova is a candidate of economic sciences, professor of the statistics department at the Moscow Institute of Economics and Management, and an Honorary Worker of Higher Professional Education of the Russian Federation. She was awarded the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd degree, the Order of Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, and other medals.
Ekaterina Petrova entered the mechanical engineering department of the Moscow Engineering and Economics Institute named after Sergo Ordzhonikidze (now the State University of Management) in 1940. After completing her first year, the war began and she and her family had to evacuate to the Saratov region for two years, where she worked as an accountant on a state farm. In October 1943, the institute called Ekaterina back to Moscow, where she was able to live independently due to the fact that students were given work cards for food, orders for clothing and footwear, and a stipend was paid to all students, and not just excellent students or those with low incomes, as was the case before the war. In this way, the state invested in the future even in the most difficult years. Despite all the difficulties, the management of the Moscow Engineering and Economics Institute tried to provide comfortable living conditions in the dormitories, replenished the institute’s material resources whenever possible, arranged a normal life, and even organized festive evenings with the participation of artists.
The dean of the mechanical engineering faculty at that time was Khadzhi-Murat Timurovich Aldakov, who at the beginning of the war was deputy head of the construction of defensive lines near Moscow.
“At first, Hadji-Murat Timurovich gave the impression of being a withdrawn, somewhat gloomy person, so at first the students were afraid of him,” recalls Ekaterina Valerianovna. “However, having met him on business once or twice, everyone understood that he treated the students very kindly and fairly. I was able to see for myself that he was also an excellent teacher, since I completed my diploma project under his supervision.”
According to Ekaterina Valerianovna, everyone studied with great enthusiasm and tried not to miss lectures. The shortage of textbooks also had an impact on attendance – often only one manual was given to three or four students, and for some subjects there were none at all, so they prepared for exams only from their own lecture notes. Accordingly, teachers approached teaching with full responsibility and explained the subject until the students fully understood it. For example, Professor of the Department of Organization and Planning of Production Eduard Adamovich Satel had a manner of conducting, as they would say now, interactive lectures – he asked students questions about how they would solve various problems of production processes.
Ekaterina Petrova especially remembers the associate professor of the department of production organization and planning, Yuri Osipovich Lyubovich, who, thanks to his sensitive attitude towards students, goodwill and gentle humor, became a true friend of his students.
“His imposing appearance, velvety voice and artistic abilities captivated the audience and worked genuine miracles. The students listened with admiration to every word when the material of deep scientific content was presented. And, what is most surprising, these wonderful lectures, thanks to the art of reading, could be easily recorded,” says Ekaterina Valerianovna.
There were practically no vacations during the war years, instead students worked in the Moscow suburban subsidiary farm of the Moscow Institute of Power Engineering, in haymaking, in logging, at vegetable warehouses. No one even thought about being released from work, everyone worked for the needs of the country and the front.
In May 1945, the maximum concentration of efforts of the entire state led to the Great Victory over Nazi Germany and its allies. Of course, the difficulties did not end there; a long period of restoration of the country lay ahead. Ekaterina Petrova graduated from MIEI in 1947, continued her education in graduate school, and since 1950 began teaching at her native university, which she never left, having trained thousands of specialists over many years.
Yes, the years of the Great Patriotic War were much harder physically and morally than our days. However, the feelings that students of those years experienced, judging by the words of Ekaterina Valerianovna, were the same:
“The student years, which coincided for my generation with the war years, were nevertheless the happiest: there was the joy of victories at the front, the joy of communicating with teachers and friends, the joy of youth and the expectation of all the best ahead.”
Students of those years forged victory with knowledge and labor in the rear, bringing a bright future closer. Today, when our country is once again facing challenges, students of the State University of Management continue to study and develop, making their contribution to supporting the country and preserving the future. The stories of these generations are separated by time, but united by a common desire for knowledge and love for the Motherland.
#Scientific regiment
Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 02/27/2025
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