Lubyansky Forest Engineering College celebrates its 95 anniversary: from Past to Present

The history of the Lubyansky Forest Engineering College dates back to 1921. It was then that Biklyanskaya Forest School of the Menzelinsky District together with a group of 22 students moved to Lubyany and became the Forest Technical School. It is important to note that it was not a green field; it was located at the landlord Lebedev’s former residence. The name of Boris Zhilkin, who together with S. Nikolayev opened a technical school, is forever written in the annals of the Lubyany history. He did his best to establish the scientific and experimental forestry. He exemplified to the contemporaries and future generations of foresters how much scientific material is contained in the Lubyany forest for the thinking mind. Until 1926 he worked and lived in Lubyany, and then he moved to Kazan. Here, he is an Associate Professor, Dean of the Forestry Faculty of the Kazan Agricultural Institute, and then an acting director of the Kazan Institute of Forestry.

The curriculum was constantly improved, and in 1923 it became the basis for new technical schools. Such was the decision of the Central Forest Management in Moscow. The curriculum was set up with a focus on forest operation, it considered the existence in the Lubyansky Forestry of sawmill, resin and turpentine plant and large logging.

A great contribution to the development of technical school and training of qualified specialists was made by Ivan Ponomaryov (1943-1967) and Kapiton Bogomolov (1967-1983). Ivan Ponomaryov committed himself to restore technical school during the Great Patriotic War. Over these years 126 forestry technicians graduated the school. Kapiton Bogomolov was a true innovator. He perfectly distinguished himself as a civil engineer and designer: all structures built during his lifetime he designed by himself. It was a time when the country began to recover from the wounds of war. With the help of concrete the dam was built in Lubyany and the 91st quarter; 65 kilometers of forest roads were arranged. A three-story brick academic building and a women's dormitory were built. Bogomolov introduced the cultivation of Sukachev’s willow for basket weaving. In 1970 the technical school joined the scientific and experimental forest establishment, and the forestry technical school was formed.

From 2004 to 2014 the Lubyansky College was headed by Mullanur Gubaidullin. He paid a lot of attention to the strengthening of facilities and resources, improvement of training quality, co-operation with employers and higher education institutions. For this purpose all the necessary conditions were created: specialized classrooms and laboratories, a library, a gym, two computer labs, and Internet access. For selfless labor the director was awarded a Letter of Thanks and a Certificate of Merit of the Federal Forestry Agency, he also was awarded the “Honored Forester of the Republic of Tatarstan” title.

Afanasy Danilov, the College Director since 2014, continues local traditions and conduct activity as much as possible closer to the modern time.

Figures:

• More than 9000 specialists graduated Lubyansky Technical School,
• As of today 29 teachers work here, 16 of them are certified to the first and highest qualification.

Intramural and extramural specialties:

• Forestry and Aesthetic Forestry;
• Economics and Accounting;
• Landscaping.

In addition, there is a center for continuous education in forestry.