On the History of Education in Ishym

In 1817 the first secular college was opened in Ishym. The merchant F. Emankov bought a house and gave it up to the college. Over XIX-XX centuries the merchants of Ishym would actively support culture and education. The famous fairy-teller Piotr Ershov contributed a lot to education development in the town. Being Supervisor over educational establishments in the Tobolsk region, Ershov would facilitate opening female colleges.
The first female school in Ishym was opened in 1859. Initially the school did not enjoy support on the part of the local merchants, since female education was not considered obligatory. In 1871 a theological college was moved from Omsk to Ishym. In 1896 two public schools for primary education were opened.

In 1887 the first public library was opened in Ishym. In 1911 the first movie theater and the circus were built. The first theater performance was held in 1802. Since 1856 amateur performances had been regularly staged in Ishym. Travelling musicians, actors, and acrobats were frequent guests to the Nikolskaya fair, and awoke interest towards shows and plays. On initiative of the merchants the Public Assembly was set up that was responsible for organizing performances, balls, and masquerades. Often it were foreigners and exiles who inspired the shows.

Similar to many other parts of the Tobolsk region, outstanding and talented people had a great impact upon education and culture in Ishym in XIX-XX centuries. These were the German researchers Miller and Gumbholdt who undertook geographical and statistic descriptions of the town, Piotr Ershov, the exiled Decembrists Odoevski and Steinghel, the writer Machtet, the Polish rebells Yanushkevich, Krzhizhanovski, and many others. These prominent people together with folk and merchant traditions compiled an original picture of education and culture in Ishym.