Perm State University was founded on October 14, 1916. It originated on the dividing line of two epochs of Russian history. That decade was marked by both so called " the silver age" of Russian culture, ingenious scientific achievements, rapid economic growth and by the crisis of the political system and also catastrophic war, which brought Russia to the brink of social and political revolution. All these factors shaped the history of the University.
It is worth mentioning that the University was initially set up as a branch of the St. Petersburg University - one of the leading European centers of higher education. Young and ambitious professors and tutors from the capital of Russia formed the backbone of the new university staff.
An English traveler J.Greenwald said: "The center of the whole cultural life is the University. Its students give the air of academic campus to Perm, where the University is the hub of life. This circumstance shapes the town, which has become one of the regional academic centers, sort of "Ural Cambridge".