The foundation of the Kharkov University coincided with the time when great changes took place in the economical and social life of Russia. It was the development when new capitalist relations at the beginning of the XIX century , connected with the development of industry , trade, new cities and the crisis of feudalism. The development of capitalism required cardinal changes in the existing system of education. The industrial and cultural development of the country required well educated specialists and the state apparatus needed good officials. That is why the tsarist government decided in addition to the Moscow University, founded in 1755, to create some other universities which could provide the education of teachers, doctors and officials. On the 24th of January Alexander I aff1fD1ed "The preliminary rules of people education" according to which the Universities in St. Petersburg, Vilno, Kazan and Kharkov had to be built. The idea of creation the University in Kharkov belonged on the progressive representatives of noblemen V. Karazin {1773-1842) who served as the secretary of the main board of educational establishments in the ministry of education. Vasiliy Karazin was a widely educated person, the passionate supported of liberal reforms. A.I. Hertzen called him a personality of tireless worker for common well-being". In spite of resistance of conservative officials V .Karazin managed to prove that foundation of the University in Kharkov that was an administrative and trade center of the south of Russian empire well influence the economical and cultural development of this region. V. Karazin managed to liquidate the obstacles connected with financing of the future University .A lot of rich people of Kharkov and neighbouring provinces gave money {658 thousand roubles) for the beginning the work. The Kharkov University was opened in January 1805. This educational establishment became the centre of science and culture of Ukraine and all the southern part of Russia. There were 4 departments at the University: philological, ethical and political, mathematical and medical ones. The students were taught history , philology , physics, mathematics and medicine. The University was placed in the Kharkov governor's house, which was situated in the centre of the city, in the oldest part of Kharkov where was formerly the Kharkov fortress. Since time this street got the name of University Street, and the historical centre of ancient Kharkov is called the University hill. There were also the flats of professors and the student's hostel. The first rector of the University was professor Ivan Rizhsky .The quantity of teachers at first was 45. Most all the professors were foreigners who did not know Russian and gave their lectures in Latin. It made a lot of difficulties. Only l-5 years later the scientists who graduated from national universities were invited to Kharkov. The first University Statute was established in 1804. The highest organ of the University was the Council, which consisted of professors, teachers and discussed the problems of teaching and the scientific work, the activity of definite scientists. According to the statute the Kharkov University led the activity schools of 11 governors and 7 governors of Caucasus, the Crimea and the Don region. The founder of the Kharkov University was a well-known scientist of that time Vasyl Karazin. A prominent Ukrainian scientist and educator, Vasyl N. Karazin (1773-1842) was an active member of the Kharkov cultural centre in the first half of the XIXth century , that was formed around the original Ukrainian thinker and poet H.S. Skovoroda and his followers. Karazin's active public work started with a number of daring projects of reforms in Russia at the beginning of the reign of Alexander I. Karazin participated in establishing the first Ministry of .People's Education in Europe. In 1802 he initiated the foundation of the third university in the Russian Empire. In 1819-1820 Karazin was vice- president of the Free Society of the Russian Language Lovers and edited the magazine "Sorevnovatel prosveshcheniya i blagotvoreniya" (The Competitor for Education and Charity). V .N. Karazin left profound works in various fields of knowledge, but especially valuable were his discoveries and innovations in food industry , meteorology and chemistry .He founded meteorology as the science, proposed to create the world set of meteorology stations, explored the influence of forests on the climate, worked in the field of selection, designed agricultural machines. His ideas about applications of electricity and manufacture of man-made diamonds proved to be future-oriented. A.Hertsen considered Karazin to be one of the greatest intellects of Russia. One of the most educated persons in the Russia of the first half of the XIX century , he came into science as a versatile researcher and the author of a number of democratic concepts. He played a great role in spreading progressive ideas in Ukraine. His contemporaries and successors have compared his activities in Ukraine with those of Mikhail Lomonosov in Russia and Benjamin Franklin in the USA. In 1999 Kharkov National University was named after V.N. Karazin. Karazin gave his rich personal library to the University bought two thousand pictures of national and foreigner artists and presented them to the study of "red art" of the University founded the first picture gallery in the city .Karazin helped to found the technical association for the science, technique and economy. This association united the inventors in the field of science and technique of eight neighbouring provinces. In 1905 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Kharkov University a majestic monument to Karazin was opened in Kharkov. This monument was made by the sculptor I. Adrialetti and architect A. Beketov. At the present time this monument is placed in the garden named after Shevchenko, near the new building of the University -a magnificent, light palace of knowledge and science. The University became the establishment, which fought for freedom of people and against the serfage. But the tsarist government was not satisfied with this situation and appointed their candidates on the past of the rectors of the University and its professors. But the University developed. Its graduates worked in the hospitals, schools and other different establishments. The scientists of the University wrote over 500 scientific works in the fields of history, folklore, economy etc. The University became the centre of cultural life of Ukraine. Its foundation promoted the development of national literature and journalism. In 1812 the fust book shop was opened in it. The first city newspaper "Kharkov Weekly Newspaper" was also published in 1812. A lot of magazines and almanacs and the first Ukrainian satiric magazine "Kharkov Democritus" were published in Kharkov at that time. These magazines and almanacs popularised the national culture and with the Russian culture and culture links with other peoples. At the beginning of the XX century the University had an astronomical observatory , a meteorological station, a museum of fme arts and a historical museum; a lot of laboratories and studies in experimental psychology , phonetics, history , geometry , organic, chemistry .A special place in the life of the University belonged to the scientific library .Its foundation was connected with the name of Vasiliy Karazin who presented, as I've already said, the University the books of his own library and bought three thousand volumes. Other progressive professors also presented valuable books. In 1861 the University library had 61 thousand books and at the end of the XIX century there were already 145 thousand volumes. In 1902 the new building of the University library was built. The library had a reading half for 250 visitors. The quality of students of the University grew from year to year. Most of them were children of rich people, but also at the end of XIXth century the quantity of poor students increased because of special stipends, which were established for talented students. All the quantity of graduates of the Kharkov University for the XIX century was 15.5 thousand people. This shows that-the ; Kharkov University made a great contribution to the preparation of specialists for practical and scientific activity .

The development of capitalism in the XIX century was accompanied by great changes in the economical, political and cultural life of the country. The industry and agriculture began to develop quickly. The Kharkov University took a prominent place in the development of national and world science. The Kharkov University is proud of the names of professor and academicians in the field of mathematics like M. Ostogradsky who worked over 30 years at the University and was the chief of the chair of mathematics. He created the whole school of talented mathematicians whose names were known not only in the national science but also in the Western Europe. The names of professors Imshenetsky , Andreyev, Zyapunov, Steklov, made a great contribution to the study of different equations. Astronomy was the science the development of which is closely connected with the professor physics Afanasy Stoikovich. His book about meteorites was the fIrst one about meteorites written in the Russian language. Another great astronomer was Ivan Fedorenko who explored the movement of stars and made the chart of the northern star sky . The beginning of physical research at the Kharkov University is connected with the name of Vasily Zapshin who was the head of the physics chair from 1833 to 1863. He made a lot of discoveries in the field of electrolysis and made a sufficient contribution to the development of electrochemical industry . From the very beginning of its existence the Kharkov University was the center of the geographical science. Vasily Karazin organized systematical meteorological exploration in Ukraine. His pupil Peter Keppen created the foundations of phonology .He made the vocabulary of people living in European part of Russia. Professor Andrei Krasnov was the founder of the Kharkov physical and geographical school and a new synthetic field in geography. He published over 300 works. He visited Japan, Mexico, Ceylon and a lot of other countries. He was the founder of the Batumy Botanical garden. The beginning of the development of geological sciences in Kharkov was laid by foundation of the Mineralogical museum in 1807. The names of great scientists in this field are profe. Nikifor Borysnyak - who wrote -60 works .in hydrography; professor Peter pyatnitsky studied the crystallography and tectonics of different regions of our country. The names of great chemists of the University are known allover the world. Among them the prominent place is taken by Nikolai Beketov who published 80 works in the field of laws of chemistry .He laid the foundation of alwninothermy, the science of producing aluminium and its alloys. The second well-known name in this field is Alexander Danilevsky working in physiological chemistry and electrophysicology .Thanks to his explorations effective methods of curing malaria were achieved. It is difficult to name all the scientists working in the field of linguistics and literature. But it's impossible to omit such great scientists like Alexander Potebnya who studied Slavonic languages and wrote a lot of books in this field. He created the syntax of Slavonic languages. It is necessary to name the activity of such great historians as the founder of Slavonic history Ivan Sreznevsky .He researched ancient Slavonic culture and left a lot of books in this field. The professor of the Kharkov University Dmitry Bagaliy created valuable works of the Ukrainian history. He underlined the historical entity of the Ukrainian and Russian people. In 1825 a well-known Polish poet Adam Mitskovich visited Kharkov and lived in the house of Goolak-Artemovsky, a well-known Ukrainian poet, the dean of the philological faculty and later the rector of the Kharkov University. Goolak-Artemovsky was the fIrst who translated the ballad "Pan Twardowsky" by A. Mitskevich into Ukrainian. The XX was marked by the further development of the Kharkov State University .On the basis of the University a lot of higher educational institutions were formed: The Pedagogical Institute, the Physical-Chemical and Mathematical Institutes, the professional institutes in Kyiv and a lot of other educational institutions. The new scientific cadres were created during the XX century by the Kharkov State University, the sons and daughters of workers, peasants and intelligentsia. The XX century was marked by the development of new sciences such as radio physics, physical chemistry, aerodynamics, applied sciences. It's necessary to name such great scientific names as the laureate of Nobel Prize theoretical physicist Lev Landau, professor Alexander Valter , academician Konstantine Sinelnikov, professor Nicolay Barabashov and many-many others. During the Great Patriotic War a lot of professors and students of the Kharkov University laid their lives for the Victory over the fascism. They were awarded with the highest orders and medals: professor Vladirnir AJexandrov, .Vladimir Makhinko and many others. The student of the Kharkov University Elena Ubiyvovk became the Hero of the Soviet Union. The specialists in 18 specialities were prepared at the University: in Physics, Mechanics, Mathematics, Chemistry , Astronomy, Geography, Biology, History , Linguistics and Economy. The University created the faculty for foreign students from the countries of Asia, Africa and other countries. The quantity of specialities is growing from year to year. Kharkov University was awarded with the honourable banners of the Supreme Soviet, the honourable sign, was written into the book of Honour of the Kharkov a worker of education. Some years ago the Kharkov University is named the National University. Since its foundation Kharkov National University has graduated over 100,000 students. Over 50 of its graduates became academicians and corresponding members of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. University lecturers and graduates have glorifies their alma mater with scientific discoveries of the world level. Three Nobel laureates: I. Mechnikov, L. Landau, S. Kuznets and world-famous researchers: the historian D. Bahaliy, the astronomer M. Barabashov, the physicist and chemist M. Beketov, the mathematician 0.Lyapunov, the linguist 0. Potebnya and many others have catered for the fame of the University. The names of the University graduates are commemorated in geographical names, names of cosmic objects, plants and minerals, laws and fonnulae. At present Kharkov National University is among the recognized leaders of higher education and research. It incorporates 15 Schools and 97 Departments; its total enrolment amounts to 12,000 undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students. The University employs about 2,000 lecturers and research officers, including over 200 full professors with doctor's degrees and over 1,000 associate professors with candidate's degrees. It offers 46 degree and 65 major licensing opportunities. The University supports 2 lyceums and the Centre of Professional Training with branches in other cities. The University is among the largest research centres in Ukraine committed to work in almost all trends of modern fundamental research. The University comprises Research Institutes of Chemistry , Biology , Laser Biology and Laser Medicine, the Astronomical Observatory , the Botanical Garden, the Central Scientific Library , the Museum of Natural History and numerous research laboratories. Over 20 world-famous research schools work at the University together with 12 specialized academic councils for conferring doctor's degrees in 31 areas of research and 5 councils for conferring candidate's degrees in 11 areas of research. In 1999 16 doctor's and 97 candidate's degrees were conferred in 40 areas of research. Due to its accomplishments Kharkov University enjoys deserved authority both in Ukraine and abroad. This is evidenced by numerous honorary titles, grants and awards received by its researchers and graduates, fruitful international cooperation with higher educational and research centres in many countries of the world. V .N. Karazin Kharkov National University starts its third hundred as a future-oriented institution that is maintaining and enriching the best traditions of a classical University .

The Central -Scientific Library (CSL), as well as the University itself, was founded in 1805 by the prominent scientist, educator and public figure Vasily Karazin. At present the Library contains around 3.5 million volumes, including 1,773,400 scientific editions, 1,200,000 textbooks and manuals, 50,000 rare editions ( l7 incunabula, over 1,000 manuscripts, books by classical writers and scholars published in their lifetime ). The collection of foreign literature exceeds 770,000 volumes published in major European languages. The Library stocks valuable reference editions including Brockhaus & Efron Encyclopaedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Meyer encyclopedic dictionaries and directories in various fields of knowledge. The CLS exchanges publications with academic and research centres abroad, among them the US Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, university libraries of Sofia, Paris, Tokyo and other cities. In 1992 the CSL was awarded the status of an institution of special social importance. The Library annually provides services to over 50,000 readers in 12 specialized reading halls and 8 book loan sections. While maintaining its almost 200-year-old traditions, the CSL also introduces new library and intonation technologies. Since 1992 an electronic catalogue, an automated reader service plastic card system have been in operation, while the Internet Public Access Centre was opened in 1996. The CSL closely cooperates with various foundations and programmes such as the International Vidrodzhennya (Renaissance) Foundation, the International Research and Exchange Board (IREX), the British Council in Ukraine, Goethe- Institute, the French Cultural Centre ('Kharkov), the American House (Kyiv) and others.

Founded simultaneously with Kharkov University in 1804, the Kharkov University Botanical Garden is the oldest in Ukraine. Its development is associated with the work of famous scientists: professor V.M. Chernyaev, O.M. Beketov, L.V. Reingard, V.M. Arnoldi, O.A. Korshikov. At present the Botanical Garden is a significant research and educational , establishment, which houses, besides its conservatory complex, 8 exhibitions designed according to the botanic and geographic principle of plants distribution on the planet. On the whole the Botanical Garden is growing over 6,000 species of plants, which include over 90 endangered species ( entered in the Red Book) and about 80 endemic species. Its collections of over 570 species of herbs, over 1,600 species of flowers and decorative plants as well as other collections are of great research and practical value. The Garden's scientific herbarium includes 36,000 pages. The Botanical Garden works in close cooperation with over 230 botanical gardens and establishments of over 40 countries of the world. The Botanical Garden research facilities and resources are intensively used for academic work and research by students of Kharkov University and other institutions of higher education.

The Kharkov University Astronomical Observatory was founded in 1808. At present it is a leading Ukrainian astronomical centre that perfonns fundamental and applied research in the physics of the Sun, the Moon, planets, asteroids, comets, satellites; fundamental astrometry and stellar statistics; development of the methods of increasing angular resolution in astronomical observations. The Observatory is an international station of the Sun Service, and since 1933 it has been conducting systematic research within the "State Time Service" project. The Observatory has a research library and a countryside Observation Station. The Observatory is equipped with a 70-cm reflector telescope, a Repsold meridian circle, a spectroheliograph, a time-service instrument, a 20-cm Zeiss refractor, a 27-cm reflector, a coherent optical image processor and other optical equipment. The Observatory provides facilities for undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate student training in astronomy. The Observatory research staff, together with the Deparbnent of Astronomy, includes 5 doctors and 22 candidates of science, four of which are laureates of the State Award of Ukraine and four are laureates of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences Award. 22 Solar System objects (Moon, Martian, Venusian craters and 12 minor planets ) have been named after Kharkov's astronomers and graduates of the Deparbnent of Astronomy. Among the Observatory research workers are members of the International Astronomical Union and the European Astronomical Society .Research work is conducte in close cooperation with US, Gennan, Italian, Swedish, Polish, Finnish and Russian researchers.