Recollections
and Impressions

“Almost all students, including young and handsome Don Cossacks distinguished by their deftness, resolve, and poetic talent, regarded University education as a step to a higher class of service or rank.”

“The University clearly stood out among other city buildings. Its buildings may not have been very beautiful but their location on the hill made them look outstanding, with the cathedral bell tower among them rising up high to touch the blue skyline.”

“The University was a sanctuary in our eyes; its professors were seen as priests dressed in purple robes and administering sacraments, they were also patrons of the youth. We dreamt that as soon as you got enrolled in the University, this alma mater, this nursing mother, you would immediately discover all the heavenly goods in there.”

“Yes, those were good times! I wish I could return them. Only memories can comfort me. I can say that my University years will forever remain the best memory of my life.”

“The honor of and gratitude for the University foundation in Kharkiv is to belong majorly to Vasyl Karazin. It is with great respect for Vasyl Karazin’s memory that I now remember this man whom I happened to see many times at the University.”

“To see Kharkiv for the first time is one of the first things on the to-do list of a person who has seen no other town or city but Poltava! For me my image and understanding of Kharkiv had also been accompanied with the spirit of education. I had always pictured the University in seducative beams of light. I wanted to guess this sanctuary of science in every stone building and kept asking my father where the University was?”

“I find my student years to have been the best time of my long life. There was no oppression from above like in the gymnasium. A conscious freedom led to greater development of mind, to understanding of the genuine light of the truth and the good, to foreseeing the future goal of life. Vivid conversations between friends brought us close together and made a path for future life. In my declining years I take delight in remembering my studentry.”

“The University with its comprehensive education and excellent professors had decisive influence on students providing them with good scientific qualification, ennobling and glorifying them in their moral ascent. So, the University is a high bright light, its beams beneficially reflecting in public, civil and private life.”

“The University graduated well-educated people, often scientists and scholars...”

“So, I am a student of the University! My soul was so overwhelmed with light and delight that I was ready to shout about my happiness.”

“I am obliged to the University, besides professional training in national and international law, first and foremost for my overall development. It aroused in me known inquiries, evoked some scientific views, vectored both my theoretical and practical activity.”