ALEXEY POLTORATSKY: AT THE ORIGINS OF PHYSICAL CULTURE IN BELARUS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the formation of the system of physical education in the Belarusian provinces of the Russian Empire at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries through the prism of a personal approach. On the example of the biography and activities of Alexei Poltoratsky, one of the specialists in the field of physical culture, the key problems of the formation of a new system of sports and physical education are considered. The author examines the pan-European context of this process, analyzing the scientific work and results of A. Poltoratsky's activities in the field under study: from teaching in the Polotsk Cadet Corps to participating in International Congresses on Physical Culture. Based on the materials of the periodical press and archival documents, the main proposals for reforming the national physical culture at the beginning of the 20th century were studied, the main implemented projects of A. Poltoratsky were highlighted, and his work in the team of General A. Butovsky was noted. The author concludes that by the beginning of the First World War in the Belarusian provinces, the concept of physical education of the European level theoretically took shape.