The first issue of the university newspaper was published on 30 March 1929. Then, it was called “Red University”. The fact that Voronezh State University started to publish its own newspaper proved that it had managed to get through the evacuation from Derpt/Yuriev, the civil war, and the post-war devastation. The newspaper indicated the high status of Voronezh State University. The main goal of the newspaper was to foster a “real Soviet citizen”.
In the 1930s, the “Red University” mercilessly castigated shortcomings and put forward the policy of the party. However, they did not forget to write about the research or the lives of students.
During the Great Patriotic War, when the university evacuated to Yelabuga, the newspaper was published by pooling resources. Then, the newspaper was made in longhand: with ink, coloured pencils, and a typewriter... Interestingly, it contained neither political nor endless “morale building” articles. After the war, the newspaper was printed again.
Society was changing, the political situation in the country was changing, and so was the newspaper. Ideological bias gave way to a more peaceful political course, propaganda texts were replaced with descriptions of university events and the name of the newspaper also changed. Now, it was called “For Scientific Staff”. Today, we all know it as the “Voronezh University”.
The archive files of the newspaper can be used as a manual to study the history of printing. Each period had its own design. The ancient technology of letterpress printing gave way to offset printing. Sometimes digital printing techniques are used now.
It has been a rocky road and the newspaper, like everything else in the world, has changed along the way and it still continues to cover the life of the beloved university and the staff of the newspaper strives to tell its readers, students, and employees about events that are happening at the university.
