Karazin, Vasily Nazarovich

The son of Colonel Nazar Alexandrovich Karazin , to whom Catherine II, as a reward for her service, granted estates in the Moscow and Kharkov provinces, including the Kruchik estate. Karazins came from the noble family of Karadzhi , whose representatives moved to Russia under Peter I. The exact origin of this genus is unknown, there are hypotheses about its Bulgarian, Serbian, or Greek origin ^[1] . Grigory Karadzhi, Vasily Nazarovich’s great-grandfather, was the Archbishop of Sofia , and his son Alexander Grigoryevich, Vasily Nazarovich’s grandfather, died as captain of the Russian Guard.

Vasily was educated in private boarding houses in Kremenchug and Kharkov . From the age of ten he was enrolled in the Order cuirassier regiment , then was listed in the Semenovsky Life Guards regiment . Formally in military service, he attended lectures in the Mining Corps in St. Petersburg , where he gained great knowledge in the experimental sciences, which he further increased by self-education. In 1798, he wanted to secretly make his way abroad - in order to improve in science and avoid the then harsh regime - but he was detained near Kovno and, warning the authorities to report, sent a letter to the emperor and was forgiven by Emperor Pavel after a personal meeting.

The first wife (Domna Ivanovna, born in 1782, the wedding took place in February 1796) died during childbirth, the second wife - Alexandra Vasilievna Karazina , nee Blankennagel (Mukhina).

Alexander I and V.N. Karazin

Immediately upon the accession to the throne of Alexander I, Karazin wrote an anonymous letter containing a reigning program in the spirit of confidence in public opinion. The emperor ordered the author to be found, caressed him and allowed him to be contacted on public affairs. In this letter, as well as in his subsequent political notes submitted to Alexander I and Nikolai Pavlovich , Karazin is a passionate advocate of public self-government and public education. He did not for long enjoy the trust of Emperor Alexander I (a little over 3 years).

“The sovereign, according to Adelung and Einbrodt, is extremely attentive to people of high feelings and does not tolerate anything ignoble and especially ingratitude in those people who surround himself, although he condescends to their weaknesses in humanity. Vasily Nazarievich Karazin, a very clever man appointed by the sovereign to the state secretaries on the recommendation of Nikolai Nikolayevich Novosiltsev , lost the sovereign's power of attorney and fell out of favor only because he dared to defame the actions of his patron, Novosiltsev, for some reason, without explaining him previously ” ^[2] .

He owns the idea of ​​a special Ministry of Education . In the same ministry, he played a prominent role as ruler of affairs of the main board of schools. He mainly drafted the "rules of public education", he drafted university and academic charters; he created a special body of the ministry, "Monthly essays on the success of public education."

Founding of Kharkov University

Vasily Karazin was one of the initiators of the founding of Kharkov University . To the thought of the foundation, he persuaded the local nobility, which donated 400,000 rubles for this. Other donations (merchants and citizens, the Yekaterinoslav nobility, etc.) were also received thanks to the influence of Karazin.

In 1905, a monument was erected to Karazin in Kharkov, currently located near the main entrance to the university.

Scientific and public activities

The personality and behavior of V. N. Karazin (as well as the reason for his dismissal in 1804 from the Ministry of Education, where he played a prominent role) remain still not fully understood. On the one hand, he was known as an ardent and noble person and was highly praised by Herzen in the article “Emperor Alexander I and V. N. Karazin”, published in 1862 in the Polar Star ^[3] ; Ukrainian historians (he was a Kharkov landowner and founder of Kharkov University) considered him one of the most advanced figures of the Alexander era, especially regarding the peasant question. On the other hand, A.F. Voeikov also wrote about Karazin in his satire "House of Madmen" ^[4] .

This was confirmed by archival materials found later: in 1820, Karazin wrote to V.P. Kochubey denunciations of Pushkin (they influenced the decision to expel Pushkin from St. Petersburg) and other "noble freethinkers" ^[5] .

In the field of science, Karazin acted as a multifaceted scientist, innovator. In his works, he drew attention to the general history and history of individual countries, the history of Russia and its individual areas. He devoted the main attention in his scientific activity to agriculture, considering it to be the economic basis of Russia . He grew and created new varieties of bread crops, as well as rice, carried out research on soil fertilization, rationalized various devices for better drying of bread, and improved the so-called Chinese threshing machine. He conducted experiments on dye minerals and herbs as a result of which he invented new dyes. Together with Alferov, he developed a simple method of manufacturing high-quality cement. He achieved significant success in the manufacture of concentrates and the improvement of the quality of certain food products, and made his contribution to the preservation and preservation of fruits. he developed a technology for drying fruits with heat of water vapor, thanks to which the dried fruits remained clean, tasty and retained a fresh smell for a long time ^[6] .

In the family estate Kruchik, he had a chemical laboratory and a meteorological station (1st in the Kharkov province ), where he personally conducted observations for several decades. Immediately there was an experimental field, on which various foreign sorts of bread were sown, experiments were made to soil the soil, new agricultural buildings were erected and the tools invented by him were applied. There was also a large library, a public school, the village council established by him, which provided self-government to his serfs: these latter received from him for quitrent to the hereditary possession of the land, and to regulate their relations with the priest, he created a special situation, by virtue of which the clergy provided with maintenance and should not have taken from the peasants no payment for the requirements. To spread new agricultural techniques, he established a special “philotechnical society”, the area of ​​activity of which was very significant (existed from 1811 to 1818) and in which he invested a lot of his own money and energy.

In 1820-1821, on suspicion of incitement to the rebellion of the Preobrazhensky regiment ^[7] . was imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress . After his release, he lived under police supervision on his estate. He died in Nikolaev , where he was buried.

Karazin owns over 60 articles published in various magazines: Vestnik Evropy, Ukrainskiy Vestnik, Kharkov Provincial Gazette, and others. His most outstanding works are articles on meteorology.

V. N. and A. V. Karazin had eight children ^[8] :

• Pelagia (1806—?).
• Basil (1807-1847). He graduated from the Physics and Mathematics Department of Kharkov University , the school of ensigns, served in the fortress of the Russian Navy in Sveaborg , participated in 11 battles and skirmishes of the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829. . Being retired, he translated Russian poets into French. He died childless.
• Egor (George) (1809—?). Warrant Officer of the Life Guards Semyonovsky Regiment .
• Philadelphus (1810-1878). He graduated from the Department of Philosophy at Kharkov University. He served in the College of Foreign Affairs, then (1837-1853, Nikolaev) at the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet as an official of special assignments and the head of the traveling office under the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral MP Lazarev , in 1854-1862 - at the Ministry of State Property, from 1862 in the Ministry of Internal Affairs; resigned as a valid state adviser . He was buried in St. Petersburg. He was married to the daughter of Rear Admiral Tsats Eugenia. Biographer V.N. Karazin.
• Alexander (1814-1837 or 1839). He graduated from Kharkov University.
• Nicholas (1816-1874). He served in the army, retired with the rank of staff captain (1842). Father of six children, including the artist N. N. Karazin
  • Nikolai Nikolaevich Karazin , a famous Russian battle painter and writer, a participant in Central Asian campaigns .
• Theodosius (1819—?)
• Valerian (1823—?)

• In honor of Karazin, a street in Kharkov was named ^[9] .
• His name has been Kharkiv National University since 1996 .
• In 1905, a monument was erected to Karazin in Kharkov (transferred from place to place 5 times).
• Monument to Karazin in the village of Kruchik .
• Square and Karazin street in Bogodukhov .
• Granite memorial plaque with the profile of young Karazin (gymnasium No. 1 of Bogodukhov, opened January 15, 2013).

• Karazin, Vasily Nazarovich // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Abramov V. Ya . V.N. Karazin (founder of Kharkov University): His life and social activities . - SPb. : Printing house of the partnership "Public good", 1891.
• Zhikharev S.P. Notes by a contemporary . - M., L .: Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1955.

• A. M. L. In memory of Vasily Nazarievich Karazin // Historical Bulletin, 1892. - V. 50. - No. 12. - S. 755-763.
• Russian emigrants during the reign of Emperor Paul / Karazin V. Letter dated August 14, 1798; Von der Hoven H. Letter of 1800 // Russian Antiquity, 1873. - T. 7. - No. 4. - S. 567-573.