Saint Petersburg State Polytechnical University (Russian: Санкт-Петербургский Государственный Политехнический Университет; abbreviated SPbSPU) is a major Russian technical university situated in Saint Petersburg. Previously it was known as the Peter the Great Polytechnical Institute (Russian: Политехнический Институт императора Петра Великого) and Kalinin Polytechnical Institute (Russian: Ленинградский Политехнический Институт имени Калинина). Saint Petersburg Polytechnical Institute was founded in 1899 as the most advanced engineering school in Russia. The main person promoting the creation of this University was the Finance Minister Count Sergei Witte who saw establishing a first-class engineering school loosely modeled by the French École Polytechnique as an important step towards the industrialization of Russia. The idea was advanced by Agricultural scientist and Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Kovalevsky and the great chemist Dmitri Mendeleev who are often considered to be the founders of the school. The first Director of the Institute became Prince Andrey Gagarin. Unlike École Polytechnique the Polytechnical institute was always considered to be a civilian establishment.