Vasily Karazin | |
---|---|
Born |
Kruchyk village of Sloboda Ukraine Governorate in Russian Empire (today Ukraine) |
30 January 1773
Died | 4 November 1842 Nikolaev of New Russia Governorate in Russian Empire (today Ukraine) |
(aged 69)
Nationality | Russian |
Known for | Founder of Kharkov University |
Vasily Nazarovich Karazin (Russian: Василий Назарович Каразин; 30 January 1773 – 4 November 1842) was a Russian enlightenment figure, intellectual, inventor, founder of The Ministry of National Education in Russian Empire and scientific publisher. He is the founder of Kharkov University (now V. N. Karazin Kharkov National University).
Karazin was born in village, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire (now Bohodukhiv Raion of Kharkov Oblast, Ukraine), his father was Nazary Aleksandrovich Karazin, a Russian Imperial Army officer (noted for his involvement in Pârvu Cantacuzino's 1769 rebellion in Wallachia) and his mother was part of the Ukrainian Cossack elite. Karazin considered himself to be ethnic Serbian, though his paternal family originally known as Karadji stemmed from Greek people.
Vasily Karazin was educated in nobility schools in Kharkov and Kremenchuk. At the age of eighteen, he left for Saint Petersburg, and underwent military training in the prestigious Semyonovsky Regiment. He also studied at the School of Mines, one of the top educational institutions in Russian Empire at that time. Karazin was, nevertheless, opposed to this environment, and often reacted against the manners and customs condoned by the nobility of the times. Unsatisfied with his military service, he moved back to his village and married a fourteen-year-old serf.