Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv (Ukraine)

Taras Shevchenko University is renamed after Taras Shevchenko a major figure in Ukrainian literature and art. It is an institution of higher education that trains specialists in many fields of knowledge and carries out research. It is considered the most prestigious university in Ukraine and a major centre of advanced learning and progressive thinking. It consists of more faculties and departments and trains specialists in a greater number of academic fields than any other Ukrainian educational institution. The University was founded in 1834 when the Emperor Nicholas I of Russia (r. 1825-1855) signed the Charter about the creation of the University named after Saint Vladimir the ruler who Christianized the Kievan Rus. This name was chosen by the authorities of the Russian Empire where the role of Orthodox Christianity was immense and may have reflected the ongoing importance of Kiev as the cradle of Eastern Christianity for the entire Empire.