The University of Kharkiv (Ukrainian: Харківський університет, Russian: Харьковский университет) or officially the Vasily Karazin Kharkiv National University (Ukrainian: Харківський національний університет імені В. Н. Каразіна, Russian: Харьковский национальный университет имени В. Н. Каразина) is one of the major universities in Ukraine, and earlier in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union. It was founded in 1804 through the efforts of Vasily Karazin becoming the second oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv.