The V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (), also known as Kharkiv National University or Karazin University, is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. It was founded in 1804 through the efforts of Vasily Karazin, becoming the second oldest university in modern-day Ukraine. During the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, all buildings were partially or fully destroyed by attacks from Russian forces.

History

Russian Empire

On , the Decree on the Opening of the Imperial University in Kharkov came into force. The university became the second university in the south of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. It was founded on the initiative of the local community with Vasily Karazin at the fore, whose idea was supported by the nobility and the local authorities. Count Seweryn Potocki was appointed the first supervisor of the university, the first rector being the

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and philosopher . In 1811, the Philotechnical Society was founded, while the Mathematical Society of Kharkov, the Historical and Philological Society of Kharkiv, the Naturalists Society, Societies of Physics, Chemistry, Law, among others, were established in the second half of the 19th century. The first periodicals in Slobozhanshchyna appear in the university around this time, including ''Kharkovski Ezhenedelnik'' (1812), ''Ukrainski Vestnik'' (1816–1819), ''Ukrainski Zhurnal'' (1824–1825), etc. In 1839, a veterinary school, which in 1851 became an independent institute, was established at the university. By this time, the campus included laboratories, clinics, an astronomical observatory, a botanical garden and a library. Previously, the university was autonomous with rectors being elected. However, from 1820 to 1850, all its activity was strictly controlled. Rectors were appointed by the Minister of Education, while scientific publications, and academic processes were censored. In 1863, under a new Statute, the university became partly autonomous. The university has been publishing ''Scientific Notes'' since 1874. From the 19th century up to the early 20th century, the University of Kharkiv had four schools: School of Physics and Mathematics, School of History and Philology, School of Medicine, School of Law. The university exerted great influence on school-life in Slobozhanshchyna in the first period of its existence, largely from 1805 to 1835.

Ukrainian SSR

From 1917 to 1920, there was a struggle between advocates of the Ukrainian statehood and Russian course. Some of the professors who opposed new political realities left. Most of the Ukrainian professors remained in Kharkiv. They continued working in the institutions founded by the Soviet government: the Academy of Theoretical Knowledge (1920–1921), Kharkiv Institute of Public Education (KhIPE, 1921–1930), Kharkiv Institute of National Economy, Institute of Physics and Chemistry, and Institute of Law. Kharkiv State University, consisting of seven schools — School of Physics and Mathematics, School of Chemistry, School of Biology, School of Geology and Geography, School of Literature and Linguistics (with Department of Philosophy), and School of Economy (with Department of Economic Geography) — was restored on their basis in 1932–1933. In 1921, Kharkiv Medical Institute was founded based on the School of Medicine of the University of Kharkiv. In 1936, the university was named after the late Russian writer

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

(though he was not related to the university during his life). During the

German-Soviet war The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

, it was evacuated to the city of Kizilord in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, where it merged with the Kyiv University to form the United Ukrainian State University. In 1943/44, the university returned to Kharkiv (the first academic year after the liberation of the city on 1 November 1943). In 1951, 800 university students suffered from persecution after they refused to pass exams in

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. Court trials were held behind closed doors. In 1977, the following schools were operating in the university: School of Mechanics and Mathematics, School of Physics, School of Geology and Geography, School of Economy, School of History, School of Philology, School of Foreign Languages, School of General Sciences, School of Correspondence Learning, and Night School.

Independent Ukraine

On 11 October 1999,

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

, the

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

issued a decree, in which he, "taking into consideration considerable contribution that Kharkiv State University made to training qualified specialists and to development of science" granted the status of a national university and named it after its founder, Vasyl Karazin. In 2004, the university was given a twin building (the former Govorov Academy), opposite Svobody Square. Russian shelling hit the building of the Faculty of Economics which was subsequently destroyed by further Russian shelling. On 5 March the university sports complex was partially destroyed. On 11 March — the building of the Faculty of Physics and Technology was partially destroyed and on 18 March — the Institute of Public Administration was partially ruined. As of 22 March 2022, according to the university's press service, the university had no intact buildings left.

Campuses and buildings

* Main building * Northern building * Central Scientific Library * Students’ Campus

Ranking

Under the Soviet Union, the University of Kharkiv was decorated the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

, the

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on 31 October 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferred upon individuals or groups for services furthering communis ...

and the Order of Peoples' Friendship. Kharkiv National University holds the second place in Ukraine in volume of publications and citations in scientific database

Scopus Scopus is a scientific abstract and citation database, launched by the academic publisher Elsevier as a competitor to older Web of Science in 2004. The ensuing competition between the two databases has been characterized as "intense" and is c ...

and the

Hirsch index The ''h''-index is an author-level metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications, initially used for an individual scientist or scholar. The ''h''-index correlates with success indicators such as winning the ...

, with the best academic results in the School of Medicine and School of Biology. In 2017, according to QS World University Rankings, it is the best university in Ukraine and ranks as 382th university in the world. Also, in 2021, according to THE World University Rankings, it is the best university in Ukraine and ranks as 477th university in the world.

Units

Departments

School of Biology

School of Chemistry

School of Computer Sciences

School of Ecology

School of Economics

School of International Economic Relations and Tourism

School of Foreign Languages

School of Medicine

School of Geology, Geography, Recreation and Tourism

School of History

School Mechanics and Mathematics

School of Law

School of Physics

School of Philology

School of Philosophy

School of Psychology

School of Radiophysics

School of Sociology

Education and Research Institute of Ecology

Education and Research Institute "Karazin Banking Institute"

Education and Research Institute "Institute of Public Administration"

Education and Research Institute "Karazin Business School"

Institute of International Education for Study and Research
* Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogics Academy

Institute of High Technologies

* School of Physics and Technology * School of Computer Science * School of Energy Physics

Scientific institutions

* Kharkiv University History Museum * State Natural History Museum of National University of Kharkiv * The Museum of Archaeology * The Museum of Astronomy (Hosted by the Institute of Astronomy)

Notable alumni and professors

File:Ilya Mechnikov nobel.jpg,

Élie Metchnikoff Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (; – 15 July 1916), also spelled Élie Metchnikoff, was a zoologist from the Russian Empire of Moldavian noble ancestry and alshereat archive.org best known for his research in immunology (study of immune systems) and ...

File:Landau.jpg,

Lev Landau Lev Davidovich Landau (; 22 January 1908 – 1 April 1968) was a Soviet physicist who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics. He was considered as one of the last scientists who were universally well-versed and ma ...

File:Simon Kuznets 1971b.jpg,

Simon Kuznets Simon Smith Kuznets ( ; rus, Семён Абра́мович Кузне́ц, p=sʲɪˈmʲɵn ɐˈbraməvʲɪtɕ kʊzʲˈnʲets; April 30, 1901 – July 8, 1985) was a Russian-born American economist and statistician who received the 1971 Nobe ...

File:Jozef Pilsudski in 1899.jpg,

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

File:Portrait of Historian M. Kostomarov by Nikolay Ghe.jpg, Mykola Kostomarov

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
winners

(Medicine, 1908) *

(Physics, 1962) *

(Economic Sciences, 1971)

Others

, Chief of State of Poland, first

Marshal of Poland Marshal of Poland () is the highest rank in the Polish Army. It has been granted to only six officers. At present, Marshal is equivalent to a field marshal or general of the army (OF-10) in other NATO armies. History Today there are no living ...

* Boris Gourevitch, author, activist * Roza Sarkisyan, theatre director * Sergiy Vilkomir, computer scientist * Marta Fiedina, synchro swimmer * Maria Burmaka, singer, musician * Anton Korobov, chess Grandmaster * Petr Shatilov, physician

Rectors

* 1805—1806, 1808—1811 * 1807—1808, 1811—1813

Atanasije Stojković Atanasije Stojković ( sr-Cyrl, Атанасије Стојковић, ; 20 September 1773 – 25 September 1832) was a Serbian, Austrian and Russian writer, pedagogue, scholar, physicist, mathematician and astronomer. He is considered the founde ...

* 1813—1820 Timofei Osipovsky * 1821—1826 * 1826—1829, 1833—1836 * 1829—1830 Andrej Dudrovich * 1830—1833 * 1836—1837 * 1837—1838 * 1839—1841, 1849—1850, 1852—1853 * 1841—1849 * 1850—1852, 1872—1873 * 1853—1859 * 1859—1862 * 1862—1872 * 1873—1881 * 1881—1884 * 1884—1890 * 1890—1899 Mikhail Alekseyenko * 1899—1901 * 1901—1905 * 1905—1906 * 1906—1911 Dmytro Bahalii * 1912—1918 * 1918—1919 * 1919—1920 * 1920—1922 * 1922—1924 * 1924—1930 Kharkov dom Proyektov

* 1930—1934 * 1934—1937 * 1937—1938 * 1938—1941 Oleksandr Sazonov * 1941—1942 * 1942—1943 * 1943 * 1943—1945 Nikolai Barabashov * 1945—1960 * 1960—1966 * 1966—1975 * 1975—1993 * 1993—1998 * 1998—2021 * 2021—present

References

External links

Official Website

at

Encyclopedia of Ukraine The ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' (), published from 1984 to 2001, is a fundamental work of Ukrainian Studies. Development The work was created under the auspices of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Europe (Sarcelles, near Paris). As the ...

University Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kharkiv, University of Educational institutions established in 1804 1804 establishments in Ukraine National universities in Ukraine Buildings and structures destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine