At the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, founded in 1811, advanced teaching methods were employed: children were respected, not humiliated, their personalities were developed, and they were taught to respect others. A creative atmosphere was created where students could reveal their talents, and each was given an individual approach. Instead of ostentatious patriotism, love for the homeland was instilled through the study of its history and the cultivation of civic responsibility. The results exceeded expectations: the lyceum produced diplomats, military leaders, poets, two Decembrists, and one genius.

October 19, 1811, became a symbolic date for 30 noble children who transitioned from home schooling to studying in an elite institution with a strict schedule and fair teachers. Every year they celebrated the opening day of the lyceum, which changed their lives and defined their futures.

The lyceum was located in a wing of the Catherine Palace, remodeled into a school. Alexander I planned to send his younger brothers there, but this did not happen, and Pushkin did not study with the future Emperor Nicholas I.

The lyceum was opened at the initiative of Mikhail Speransky, the chief advisor to Alexander I, to prepare an elite from the nobility. The goal was to educate knowledgeable and thoughtful statesmen devoted to the Fatherland. For this, the best teachers were recruited, a library was created, and an environment for talent development was established.

Speransky, the son of a priest, graduated from the Alexander Nevsky Seminary, where he studied mathematics, physics, and philosophy. Thanks to his abilities, he made a career, becoming a state secretary.

The first director of the lyceum was Vasily Malinovsky, a well-known diplomat. The teachers at the lyceum had excellent education.

The lyceum accepted children aged 10-12 from noble families, but there were also representatives of less wealthy nobility, like Pushkin, who was helped by his uncle Turgenev.

The lyceum was a closed boarding school, where each student had a personal room. Over 6 years of study, they received a higher education equivalent to a university degree. The first 3 years followed a gymnasium curriculum, the next 3, a university curriculum, after which they could choose a military career.

The lyceum provided encyclopedic knowledge: from the Law of God to foreign languages, mathematics, and art. The main focus was on the humanities, especially history and biographies of great people. Effective methods were used in language studies, including mandatory communication in foreign languages.

Pushkin did not show particular zeal for studying but excelled in literature, French, and fencing.

Democratic order prevailed at the lyceum, corporal punishment was prohibited, and students could not treat the staff rudely. Teachers appealed to the responsibility and reason of the students rather than imposing discipline by force. Grades were not given; instead, characteristics were provided to motivate students.

Pushkin retained gratitude for his teachers, especially Alexander Kunitsyn, who taught law and finance.

Students lived by a strict schedule, waking up at 6 AM and attending classes for 7 hours a day. The program included physical exercises and walks. Lyceum students read a lot and discussed literature, and the library was constantly replenished. Famous writers visited the institution, and teacher Koshansky developed the literary abilities of the students.

Lyceum students wrote and read poetry to each other, and in 1814, Pushkin's poem was published in a magazine.

Pushkin began writing at the lyceum and joined the literary society 'Arzamas.' At the exam, his poem impressed Derzhavin, who called him his successor.

The Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum brilliantly fulfilled the task of educating free-thinking individuals. Graduates of Pushkin's course chose the motto 'For the Common Good' and followed it, although they understood it differently. Among the graduates were Decembrists, writers, researchers, and statesmen.

After the October Revolution, the lyceum was closed, and the building was given to a polytechnic institute. In the 1920s, the OGPU accused graduates and teachers of counter-revolutionary activities, many were arrested and executed.

The idea of erecting a monument to Pushkin arose on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the lyceum, but it appeared on Tverskoy Boulevard in Moscow. Fifty years later, a monument was erected in the city of Pushkin, becoming a symbol of the city's revival after the war.

The memorial museum-lyceum opened after the war when the country needed spiritual nourishment. The exhibition included an assembly hall and rooms of the lyceum students, including Pushkin's room. Museum staff collected information about the interiors and lives of the lyceum students. In 2011, the apartment of the drawing teacher was opened, and on the 2nd floor, there was an exhibition about the lyceum as a 'homeland' for Pushkin and other figures.