Élie Metchnikoff
Skumin studied medicine at the Kharkiv National Medical University. The history of the higher medical school in Kharkiv is more than 200 years long and closely connected with the history of Vasily Karazin Kharkiv National University, because it sprang from its Medical Faculty. The University – one of the oldest University of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union – was founded in 1804, a decree about its foundation was signed by the Emperor of Russia Alexander I, and the first Statutes of the University were approved at that time. In the Kharkiv University were laid high scientific standards. Its history is connected with the names of the Nobel Laureates – Lev Landau, Simon Kuznets, Élie Metchnikoff – and other distinguished scientists.