Samara State University was founded in 1918 by Constituent Assembly Members’ Committee and Samara Provincial Board. Alexander P. Nechaev, the famous psychologist and professor, who became the first Rector of SSU. The University was the only center of higher education in Samara region. This fact greatly influenced the culture and education of the Middle Volga region.
The newly opened university comprised the Departments of History and Philology, Medicine, Physics and Mathematics, and Agriculture.
In 1927 the University was closed but it gave birth to other institutes of higher education in Samara such as: Medical University, Teacher Training University and Agricultural Academy.
By the 1960s several higher education establishments were functioning in Kuibyshev (the name of the city from 1935 to 1990). They offered training mostly in technology for developing industries in the hometown. Therefore there was an urgent need for experts in the humanities.
Thus, in the middle of 1960s the question of restoring the University in Samara came up again. In 1966, the USSR and RSFSR Council of Ministers decreed to establish Kuibyshev State University. On September the 1st, 1969 Kuibyshev State University welcomed the first students.