Vasily Karazin

Vasily Nazarovich Karazin (Russian: Василий Назарович Каразин; Ukrainian: Василь Назарович Каразін, romanized: Vasyl Nazarovych Karazin; 30 January 1773 – 4 November 1842) 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 (now the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine). He was active in such areas as: political activism, social engagement, education, educational policy, agricultural research, meteorology. Made countless discoveries in organic and inorganic chemistry, was the first one to propose to make a network of weather station spanning the whole country.