Patrick O'Meara on V.A. Karazin: Alexander I's Opinionated Ukrainian Visionary On Russia's Future

Vasily Nazarovich Karazin (1773-1842) was a Russian Enlightenment figure – an intellectual, inventor, founder of the Ministry of National Education in the Russian Empire and a scientific publisher. He was the founder of Kharkov/Kharkiv University in modern-day Ukraine, which now bears his name. When Alexander I took power, Karazin began petitioning him, expressing his views on government and policies for developing education, in particular. He was a critic of many institutions of his day and a prolific writer on science, agriculture, pharmacology, chemistry and physics. He even inaugurated Ukraine’s first weather station. Eventually, his views and constant petitioning of Alexander I brought him into direct confrontation with the tsar.

Pofessor Patrick O'Meara was the Master of Van Mildert College and Professor of Russian and Russian History at Durham University. Until 2003, he was Associate Professor of Russian at Trinity College, Dublin. He has held visiting fellowships at the Kennan Institute, Washington DC and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.