Ivan Shuvalov and Mikhail Lomonosov promoted the idea of a university in Moscow, and Russian Empress Elizabeth decreed its establishment on 23 January [O.S.

The present Moscow State University originally occupied the Aptekarskij dom on Red Square from 1755 to 1787.

In 1779, Mikhail Kheraskov founded a boarding school for noblemen (Благородный пансион) which in 1830 became a gymnasium for the Russian nobility.

The university press, run by Nikolay Novikov in the 1780s, published the most popular newspaper in Imperial Russia: Moskovskie Vedomosti.

The rector was annually elected by a professorial assembly (closed voting with the help of white and black balls) and was approved personally by the Emperor of the Russian Empire.

Each department held its own meetings, on which a schedule was drawn up, tests were conducted for those wishing to obtain a degree, economic and financial issues were considered.

Since the beginning of the 1820s, the number of students has constantly increased: The visit of Emperor Nicholas I to Moscow University in 1826 resulted in the dismissal of the rector, who in his opinion did not implement the government's decisions with sufficient vigor.

Auxiliary institutions at the university continued to develop: an astronomical observatory (1828) was founded, an office of comparative anatomy and physiology (1834), a hospital clinic was open and an anatomical-pathological cabinet 1846).

In April 1855, the decree of Emperor Alexander II "On the admission to take an unlimited number of students to universities" was followed.

If in the original structure of the Imperial University of Moscow in the 18th century three faculties were provided for only 10 departments, in 1804 there were 28, in 1835 there were 35, then in 1863 their number increased to 53, and by 1884 to 56.

In 1884–1897, the medical faculty for private donations and with the financial support of the government built a «Clinical Town» at Devichye Pole, between the Garden Ring and the Novodevichy Convent.

By the end of the XIX century, the Medical Faculty of Moscow University had 13 clinics and 12 research institutes.

In 1905, a social-democratic organization emerged at the university and called for the overthrow of the Czarist government and the establishment of a republic in Russia.

In 1899—1907, the Moscow University was repeatedly forced to stop studying in connection with student rallies and gatherings.

Measures of the Ministry of Public Education to curb the student movement, aimed at limiting the university autonomy, caused a negative reaction of the liberal-minded part of the professors.

Temporary rules – a legislative act, supplementing the Charter of 1884, liberalizing the order of the administrative structure of universities.

Temporary rules were issued in connection with the termination of studies at universities due to student unrest.

In 1911, the conflict between the Ministry of Education, headed by Lev Kasso, and the University of Moscow resulted in the collective resignation of more than a third of the faculty, including many outstanding scientists.

The immediate cause of the conflict was the decision of the student meeting in November 1910 on the occasion of the death of Leo Tolstoy about the termination for 3 days of classes in connection with mourning.

Minister of Education Lev Kasso demanded from the rector of Moscow University Alexander Manuilov to resolve the conflict by force.

The circular violated the provisions of the provisional rules of 1905, according to which the petition for the closure of the university belonged to the rights of the council.

Immediately afterwards, police forces were introduced into the university, without the knowledge of the council, to prevent the beginning of the strike.

In response, the Ministry publishes the highest decree on the dismissal of university leaders, while at the same time prohibiting them from engaging in scientific and teaching activities.

Upon receipt of the Council, I petition for measures to clean the classrooms and some laboratories from these organizations and gatherings» (there was no reaction to the telegram).

The revolutionary transformations of 1917–1921 in the sphere of Russian public education, which began in the first years of Soviet power, led to a complete change in the structure of the university, its teaching and student staff.

The adopted policy of "democratization" and "proletarianization" of higher education led to a sharp increase in the number of students and, correspondingly, a decrease in the level of teaching.