Diaries of Smolyanka. Memories of the institute

"... graduation, public exams were empty formality, - everyone knew that she would have to answer, wrote works in advance, the teacher corrected it, and it was uploaded to word for word ... In the end, life for the exhibition, life was shocked in the morals of pupils that they studied only for a good mark, they acted well only when they hoped to get praise ... "(E. Vodovozov) Elizabeth Vodovozov was brought up in a poor noble family. She describes in detail the tragic and joyful events of her life, a family way, study at the Smolny Institute, reliably recreating the world of a girl who lived in pre -revolutionary Russia for readers. The honest and unbridled story of the writer about the mores who reigned in Smolny will allow you to look differently at the era of balls and elegant dresses