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Mari State University is one of the young classical universities of the country, a major educational and scientific center of the Republic of Mari El and the Volga Federal District.

May 4, 1971 Minister of Higher and Secondary Special Education of the RSFSR V.N. Stoletov signed an order to organize a university in Yoshkar-Ola, designed to fill the most acute shortage of personnel for the rapidly developing leading sectors of the national economy: industry, construction and agriculture.

The initiators of the creation of the university were the first secretary of the Mari regional committee of the CPSU V.P. Nikonov, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the IASSR P.A. Almakaev and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic T.I. Gorinov, who in January 1970 turned to the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR with a request to create the first university on Mari land. The comprehensive support of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Union and Russian governments became the key to the success of a new undertaking. Already in December, the structure of the MarSU was approved as part of the historical-philological, biological-chemical, physical-mathematical, agricultural faculties, preparatory department, 17 departments, the research sector, 40 classrooms and laboratories. The training was planned to be conducted in 10 specialties. At the same time, construction of educational buildings and a residential building for teachers began.