1. Vasily Nazarovich Karazin was a Russian Enlightenment figure, intellectual, inventor, scientific publisher, founder of the Ministry of National Education in the Russian Empire, and of the Imperial Kharkov University.
14 Facts About Vasily Karazin
1. 2.
Vasily Karazin was active in such areas as: political activism, social engagement, education, educational policy, agricultural research, meteorology.
3.
Vasily Karazin's father was Nazary Aleksandrovich Karazin, a Russian Imperial Army officer noted for his involvement in Parvu Cantacuzino's 1769 rebellion in Wallachia.
4.
Vasily Karazin considered himself to be ethnic Serbian while his paternal family were originally known as Karadzic, which has Serb Montenegrin origins.
5.
Vasily Karazin was married to Alexandra Mukhina from Moscow, who was well known as a translator of French literature into Russian; her stepfather was the Russian Imperial General major Egor von Blankennagel.
6.
Vasily Karazin was educated in schools for the nobility in Kharkov and then in Kremenchug.
7.
Vasily Karazin studied at the School of Mines, one of the top educational institutions in the Russian Empire at that time.
8.
Vasily Karazin was unhappy in this environment, and often reacted against the manners and customs condoned by the nobility of the times.
9.
In 1798 Vasily Karazin attempted to leave Russia given his opposition to the policies of Emperor Paul I, but was denied a passport.
10.
On 17 January 1805, the Imperial Kharkov University was inaugurated, but Vasily Karazin did not take part in the opening ceremony, as by that time he had lost his position with the Ministry of Education.
11.
Vasily Karazin was a member of seven academies and published more than 60 articles in different fields of science, primarily agriculture, pharmacology, chemistry, and physics.
12.
Vasily Karazin repeatedly voiced criticism of what he viewed as Alexander's resistance to self-government and national education in the Russian Empire.
13.
Vasily Karazin was the founding father of the Ministry of National Education.
14.
The Russian painter and writer Nikolay Vasily Karazin was his grandson.