1919–1949 On February 25, 1919, the Central Executive Committee of the
Belorussian SSR resolved to establish the first national university in
Belarus. However, the occupation of
Minsk by the Polish army delayed these plans, and the university's opening was set back to October 30, 1921. Initially, the university comprised three faculties (Workers, Medicine, and Humanities) that enrolled a total of 1,390 students. The faculty included 14 professors, 49 lecturers and 10 teaching assistants, most of whom were transferred from the universities of
Moscow,
Kazan and
Kiev. In 1922, the Pedagogical Faculty was established. The first class that counted 34 economists and 26 lawyers graduated in 1925. By 1930, the university consisted of six faculties: Workers, Medicine, Pedagogical, National Economy, Law and Soviet Development, Chemical Technology. In 1941 the university consisted of six Faculties: Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics,
Biology, History, Geography, and Languages. There was also a Workers Faculty that provided part-time education to full-time employees of factories and plants, as well as special part-time
Polish- and
Yiddish-language sections. After Minsk was occupied by
Nazi Germany in June 1941, some students and academic staff were evacuated to the east. In May 1943, the Belarusian State University was re-opened in the town of
Skhodnya, 12 km northwest of
Moscow. The university relocated back to Minsk in the summer of 1944 and classes resumed. In 1949, the university was named after
Vladimir Lenin to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the
Byelorussian SSR.
1950–2007 In 1975 the Faculty of Radiophysics and Electronics was split off from the Faculty of Physics, and in 1989 the Faculty of Philosophy and Economics was established. The research institutes for physico-chemical problems and nuclear problems were opened in 1978 and 1986, respectively. Following Belarus's independence from the
USSR in 1991, new faculties and institutes were created: the Faculty of International Relations (1995), the State Institute of Management and Social Technologies (2003), the Military Faculty (2003), the St. Methodius and Cyril Theological Institute (2004), the Faculty of Humanities (2004), the Institute of Business and Technology Management (2006), and the Confucius Institute for Sinology (2007). Rector
Alyaksandr Kazulin was fired in 2003 on accusations of corruption.
2008–present: criticism and political controversies In 2008, the activist
Franak Viačorka, a member of
Partyja BPF, was expelled from the Journalism Faculty of the Belarusian State University and forced into military service. In the same year, Michaił Paškievič, a member of the
United Civic Party and leader of the party's youth wing, was expelled from the BSU History Faculty for political activity. In 2009, the BSU Law Faculty expelled the student
Tatsiana Shaputska, a member of the
Malady Front, after her participation in the Civil Society Forum of the
Eastern Partnership in
Brussels. As part of the
international sanctions against the regime in Belarus following a crackdown of the opposition following the
2010 Belarusian presidential election,
Siarhiej Abłamiejka, at that time
rector of the Belarusian State University, was banned from entering the
European Union. In its decision, the
EU Council accused him of being
"responsible for the expulsion of several students from the University because they participated in the demonstrations on 19 December 2010 and in other peaceful demonstrations in 2011." It was reported that students were expelled from the Belarusian State University for participating in the protests in 2010 and 2011. According to reports by human rights organizations, politically motivated expulsions from the Belarusian State University continued also after the
EU lifted most of its sanctions against Belarus in 2014. According to reports by media and human rights organizations, many students of the Belarusian State University are being forced to vote early at elections and referendums, which is considered an essential part of centralized
electoral fraud in Belarus. No election or referendum in Belarus has been recognized by the United States, the
European Union, or the
OSCE as free and fair since the mid-1990s. In 2020–21, several university teachers were fired for political reasons. A number of students who
participated in the protests or openly expressed their civil position were expelled. Professor Svetlana Volchek was arrested for writing to the university leadership expressing concern about police violence during the protests, and found guilty of spreading information about a planned protest. In 2021, four previously expelled BSU students were sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for protesting in the university and "disruption of the educational process". All of them were recognized as political prisoners. Several BSU employees were witnesses. Aliaksandr Danilevich, a university professor and a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, was arrested by
Belarusian police on May 20, 2022. In February 2022 he had signed a petition calling for an end to the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. After he signed the petition the university told him they would not extend his contract; the day before his arrest he had asked for a written explanation to why his contract was ended. ==Ranking==