page_title: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv / History
context_page_description: Kiev University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, colloquially known in Ukrainian and Russian as KNU is located in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The university is universally recognized as the most prestigious university of Ukraine, being the largest national higher education institution. KNU is ranked within top 550 universities in the world. It is the third oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and University of Kharkiv. Currently, its structure consists of fifteen faculties and five institutes. It was founded in 1834 by the Russian Tsar Nikolai I as the Kiev Imperial University of Saint Vladimir, and since then it has changed its name several times. During the Soviet Union era, Kiev State University was one of the top-three universities in the USSR, along with Moscow State University and Leningrad State University. It is ranked as the best university in Ukraine in many rankings.
caption: Nicholas I of Russia, a founding father of the Saint Vladimir University in Kiev.
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