School No. 40 (colloquially — School Forty, now Lyceum No. 40) is a specialized physics and mathematics school in Nizhny Novgorod, opened on September 1, 1961. It was one of the first physics and mathematics schools in the country, founded in the City of Gorky during the tenure of its director Veniamin Yakovlevich Veksler.[1]

History and Founding

Specialized School No. 40 opened on September 1, 1961 — at the same time as Leningrad's physics and mathematics School No. 239 and Moscow's Physics and Mathematics School No. 2, and ahead of the better-known Novosibirsk physics and mathematics boarding school. Nevertheless, unlike other such schools, information about the Gorky school was long absent from publications: in a closed city, it was not customary to talk about the school.[1]

The school's first director was Veniamin Yakovlevich Veksler, whose name became a symbol of the first and, in the assessment of the compiler of the memoir book, most significant period in the institution's history.[1]

Alumni and Teachers

Despite its physics and mathematics emphasis, the school's alumni include well-known figures from the humanities: the writer and publisher Oleg Ryabov, the television journalist Nina Zvereva, and the political scientist and journalist Viktor Lysov. Alumni also include Professor Vladimir Antonets, a doctor of sciences. Former students have gone on to work and live in France, Moscow, and Saint Petersburg.[1]

The Book "Veksler's School"

On August 21, the book "Veksler's School" — a collection of memoirs about the first period of the school's history — was presented in the hall of the Lenin Regional Library. The compiler was Asya Veksler, a candidate of political sciences and associate professor at HSE University, and the daughter-in-law of the first director. The book was timed to coincide with the 65th anniversary of Lyceum No. 40; financial assistance with its publication was provided by the grandchildren and grandnephews and grandnieces of Veniamin Yakovlevich. The presentation was attended by academicians, candidates of sciences, and heads of research institutes — former alumni who had traveled specially from various cities and countries.[1]

Links

Sources

  1. dengoroda-nn.ru — School No. 40: A Space of Freedom