[1] On 22 January 1724, Peter the Great ordered the establishment of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a university where tutors would teach students in theology, jurisprudence, medicine and philosophy.

The university perceived the liberal ideas of 1860s and became a mainstay of free thought, science and art.

The Faculty of Law became the biggest at Saint Petersburg University by the end of 19th century (1335 of 2675 students studied there in 1894).

Alexander Blok, Nikolay Gumilev, Leonid Andreyev, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Rainis, Mikhail Vrubel, Sergei Diaghilev, Nicholas Roerich, Igor Stravinsky, Ilia Zdanevich, and Sergei Yursky have attended the Faculty of Law.

[4] Also three prime ministers of Russia, Boris Shturmer, Alexander Kerensky and Dmitriy Medvedev (as well former president), the leader of the Bolsheviks Vladimir Lenin and the current president Vladimir Putin (as well former prime minister) have graduated from the faculty.