Perspectivia

Agentov_Mikhail

Surname

Агентов; Agentov, Agentoff

Name

Михаил Иванович; Mikhail Ivanovich

Languages taught

German; Latin

Confession

Orthodox

Place of birth, country

Russia

Date of birth

Around 1740

Place of death, country

Russia

Place of death, town (province)

Moscow

Date of death

After June 1769 and before September 9, 1769

Education

Agentov was one of the first students at Moscow University, founded in 1755. Around 1760, he was sent to the university of Königsberg in order to improve his knowledge of German.

Career in Russia

Agentov became known as the first Russian author of a German grammar. As early as 1757, still a student at Moscow University, he became an instructor at the grammar school (guimnaziia), which was attached to the university and taught “the rudiments of German” (first German class) and Latin reading and writing. After his short one-term stay at the university of Königsberg in 1760, he returned to Moscow University and the grammar school in 1761, where he became teacher of the second German class (the so-called “etymological” class, which meant in fact “morphological"). In summer 1762, Agentov took over the third German class (“syntax class”) from his colleague Fischer. His successor in the second German class was Ivan Kalinovskiy. In the third class, Agentov remained as teacher until his death (after June and before 9th September 1769). He was replaced by his colleague Johann Bernhard Pfundheller.

In 1761, the conference of professors of Moscow University commissioned Agentov to compose a German grammar, since there was a huge lack of such textbooks. Agentov completed this order very quickly, publishing his grammar only a year later in 1762. In fact, this grammar was nothing more, for the most part, than a literal plagiarism of two other German grammars published in Russia in 1745 and 1760 (German grammar by M. Schwanwitz, 3rd edition, 1745 and German grammar by J. E. Gretsch, 1760). It is interesting to note how J.G. Reichel, Agentov’s German colleague and professor of German language and literature at Moscow University since 1761, commented on Agentov’s commission to compose a German grammar. Reichel attributed it to the fact that his own [Reichel’s] reputation had been harmed by his opponents at the university. Thus he wrote to a German colleague in St Petersburg, professor Johann Joachim Rost, in his letter of 12th March, 1761: “You do know that my abilities were misjudged and people did not want to make use of my services. I received the order to compose a primer [ABC-book]. Agentov is to compose the German grammar. Prof. Müller [...] will be quite amused that the composition of a German grammar is treated so lightly and that people gamble with the reputation of the university for all world to see.” [Reichel, quoted from Lehmann, 1966, p. 144]. According to the minutes of the conference of professors from 26th January 1762, Agentov also worked on the translation of a book of syntax by J.B. Basedow, which he had received from Reichel, but this work was not completed (Пенчко, 1960, p. 237). 

Agentov’s professional skills as a teacher, apparently, were not always faultless. Due to the fact that Agentov turned up in his classes “very rarely”, in 1764, the university management even thought about releasing him from his duties. But instead, Agentov received quite a big salary increase, which was subject to the condition that he should improve his behaviour so that students could learn not only from his instruction but also from his positive example. (Пенчко, 1962, p. 282, 292).

After 1762, Agentov was also among the group of translators at Moscow University and published several works. His book «Открытие сокровенных художеств, служащее для фабрикантов, мануфактуристов, художников, мастеровых людей и для экономии» [Discovery of secret arts for fabricants, manufacturers, artists, craftsmen and for economy] is deemed to be his most important work. It was the first book in the Russian language about chemical engineering and was published in three editions.

Institutions in which the teacher has taught in Russia

Grammar school (Guimnaziia) attached to Moscow University

Social status of teacher’s pupils

nobles; non-nobles

The grammar school (Guimnaziia) at Moscow University, which was founded in 1755 on Mikhail Lomonosov’s initiative with the intention of educating students for Moscow University, was divided into two departments: One department for noble students and one for non-nobles. Both consisted of four different sections (so called “schools”): one for Latin, one for Russian, one for the European Languages (that is German and French) and one for the “foundations of science” (“Anfänge der Wissenschaften”). The school was attended by two different categories of students: those in receipt of a governmental scholarship and self-funding pupils. At the beginning, there were 50 scholarship students (among them nobles and non-nobles) in each section, but this number increased quite quickly. The highest number of students was achieved in 1787, when the school counted 1010 pupils (Koch, 2002, p. 110).

Place of work in Russia, city (province)

Moscow

Dates of existence of the school / pedagogical activity

1757–1769

Subjects and aspects of subjects taught by the teacher

German reading and writing; German morphology, declension and conjugation; German syntax; Latin reading and writing

Methods of teaching

Apparently, there were problems in the teaching of languages at the grammar school of Moscow University, so much so that the professors of the Moscow University felt compelled to draw attention to this issue in their conference in May 1767. They made the following decision:

“It has been observed that students at the grammar school, especially in the lower classes, are very tired because of studying grammar rules that they do not understand and that are not explained in practice; whereby the Conference demands: 1) That teachers, writing on the blackboard examples subject to grammar analysis, should immediately translate them into Russian or from Russian into French, German (or Latin and Italian) and that they should do it daily. This is particularly important for practising conversation (dialogues). Dialogues, words and phrases explained in such a way should be learned by heart. Grammar rules, that have been explained in detail during the analysis and been read about in grammar books, and thus understood without much difficulty, should be studied in advance. One day a week should be used entirely to practise free conversation consisting of questions and answers. 2) That they force their students to do exercises given in the classroom and for homework three times a week, and that on the following morning teachers should sign the revised work and note the day when the work was given and corrected. Similar exercises should be introduced by teachers in other classes, too, for example, in the mathematics, as well as in the geography and history classes. These exercises, showing the diligence of both teachers and students, should be observed by the inspector and the rector, they should be the first to be paid attention to by the examiners on the public examinations.” (Minutes of the conference of the professors of Moscow University from 12th May 1767, published in Пенчко, 1963, p. 41).

Thus, the main focus was on the translation of typical sentences. Contrary to prior practice, the student’s mother tongue, Russian, was now incorporated into the process of instruction in order to increase the student’s understanding. Oral skills were to be built up by memorizing sample dialogues, which were presented in the so called “dialogue books”. After the grammar books, these dialogue books represented the main basis for language instruction.

Textbooks and other didactical literature used by the teacher

  • · [Агентов, Михаил], Грамматика немецкая, собранная из разных авторов Михаилом Агентовым, Moscow, 1762.
  • · [Gottsched, Johann Christoph], Grundlegung einer Deutschen Sprachkunst, Nach den Mustern der besten Schriftsteller des vorigen und jetzigen Jahrhunderts abgefasset von Johann Christoph Gottscheden, Leipzig, 1748 (4th ed. 1757).
  • · [Gottsched, Johann Christoph], Kern der Deutschen Sprachkunst, aus der ausführlichen Sprachkunst Herrn Professor Gottscheds, zum Gebrauche der Jugend, von ihm selbst ins Kurze gezogen, Leipzig, 1753.
  • · [Gottsched, Johann Christoph], Vorübungen der Beredsamkeit, zum Gebrauche der Gymnasien und größern Schulen, Leipzig, 1754.
  • · [Gretsch, Johann Ernst], Немецкая Грамматика сочиненная в пользу и употребление благороднаго юношества при Сухопутном шляхетном кадетском корпусе, St. Petersburg, 1760.
  • · [Hölterhof, Franz], Немецкой Целлариус, или полезной лексикон, из котораго без великаго труда, и наискоряе нужнейших Немецкаго языка слов научиться можно, Der Deutsche Cellarius oder vortheilhaftes Wörter-Buch, woraus die nöthigsten Wörter der Deutschen Sprache ohne grosse Mühe und in kurzer Zeit zu erlernen sind, Moscow, 1765.
  • · [Lange, Joachim], Colloquia Scholastica, Школьные разговоры, Schul-Gespräche, Dialogues, St. Petersburg, 1738.
  • · [Шванович, Мартин], Немецкая грамматика, из разных авторов собрана и российской юности в пользу издана от учителя немецкого языка при Санкт-Петербургской гимназии, St. Petersburg, Academy of Sciences Publishing House, 3rd ed., 1745.
  • The first years at the grammar school attached to Moscow University were characterized by a significant lack of textbooks for language tuition. There were only a few standard works, which had been printed at the Academic University in St Petersburg and which were used at the Academic grammar school as well. One of these books was Joachim Lange’s book “School dialogues”, published in 1738, which was used in the lower German classes according to the regulations of the Moscow grammar school of 1755 (see: Регламент Московской Гимназии, in: Белявский, 1955, p. 298). Another standard work was M. Schwanwitz’s German grammar, printed in a fourth edition at the Academic University in St Petersburg in 1745. Most likely, it was used at the very beginning of the Moscow grammar school, too. Still in 1758, Moscow University ordered 40 copies for the grammar school pupils (Пенчко, 1960, p. 140). Agentov’s colleague, J.G. Reichel, introduced J. Ch. Gottsched’s grammar books to Moscow University. These were Gottsched’s  “Grundlegung einer Deutschen Sprachkunst“ and “ Kern der Deutschen Sprachkunst“, which were used by Reichel in his classes (see letter from Ch. G. Köllner to G. F. Müller dated 17 October 1757, cit. in Lehmann, 1966, p. 119).  In 1758, Gottsched’s “Grundlegung einer Deutschen Sprachkunst” was introduced officially by Mikhail Lomonosov’s school regulations (Ломоносов, 1955, p. 459). Possibly, Agentov also used the first complete Russian translation of Gottsched’s “Grundlegung” in his classes. This book was Gretsch’s Немеская Грамматика, published in 1760 at the First Noble Cadet Corps in St Petersburg, which was copied by Agentov for his own grammar in 1761/1762. Gottsched’s works were used in the upper German classes (syntax and style). They are listed in a catalogue of the “school library”, attached to the minutes of the professors’ conference of 15th January 1765 [“Catalogus Librorum pro stipendiariis studiosis et discipulis universitatis et gymnasii moscuensis” (Пенчко, 1962, p. 29)]. Moreover, pupils were rewarded with Gottsched’s works at the yearly public exams, for example pupils of Agentov’s class in July 1765 with Gottsched’s “Vorübungen der Beredsamkeit” (Пенчко, 1962, p. 129, 131).
  • In general, grammar books constituted the main basis for language instruction in the 18th century. The grammar covered all the important aspects of a language, not only the grammar rules themselves. Therefore, pupils used a grammar book for learning reading and writing too and even for learning the correct pronunciation. Typically, a grammar book was organized in four main parts: spelling, “etymology”, which meant morphology, syntax and prosody.
  • Hölterhof’s “Немецкой Целлариус” was used intensively in the grammar school. Only one year after its publication in 1765, the professors’ conference acknowledged it as the best dictionary of its time and officially imposed it for use in German classes (Пенчко, 1962, p. 255).

Publications made by the teacher concerning the acquisition of foreign languages

  • · [Aгентов, М.И.], Краткая немецкая грамматика, собранная из разных авторов, в пользу российскаго юношества, переводчиком Михайлом Агентовым, обучающим в Гимназии Имп. Московскаго университета немецкой синтаксической класс, Moscow, 1762 (2nd ed. 1779, 3rd ed. 1787).

Other publications made by the teacher

  • · [Aгентов, М.И.], Основательное и ясное наставление в миниатурной живописи, посредством котораго, можно сему искусству весьма легко и без учителя обучиться,  С приобщением многих редких, и особливых способов, как разныя краски, твореное золото, серебро и китайской лакфернис делать, и как на полименте золотить, Переведено с немецкаго языка переводчиком Михайлом Агентовым, Moscow, Print. at Imperial Moscow University, 1765.
  • · [Aгентов, М.И.], Открытие сокровенных художеств, служащее для фабрикантов, мануфактуристов, художников, мастеровых людей и для экономии, переведено с немецкаго языка из разных авторов переводчиком Михайлом Агентовым, Moscow, Print. at Imperial Moscow University, 3 parts, 1768–1771.

Sources
Author of the article

Kristine Dahmen