- published: 23 Jun 2012
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The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies between countries; usually it is a type of secondary school.
"Lyceum" is a Latin rendering of the Ancient Greek Λύκειον ("Lykeion"), the name of a gymnasium in Classical Athens dedicated to Apollo Lyceus. This original Lyceum is remembered as the location of the peripatetic school of Aristotle. Some countries derive the name for their modern schools from the Latin but use the Greek name for the ancient school: for example, Dutch has "Lykeion" (ancient) and "Lyceum" (modern), both rendered "lyceum" in English.
This name, Lycée, was retrieved and utilized by Napoleon in 1802 to name the main secondary education establishments. From France the name spread in many countries influenced by French culture.
In Imperial Russia, a Lyceum was one of the following higher educational facilities: Demidov Lyceum of Law in Yaroslavl (1803), Alexander Lyceum in Tsarskoye Selo (1810), Richelieu lyceum in Odessa (1817), and Imperial Katkov Lyceum in Moscow (1867).