Who is Mendeleev? Life of wonderful names

Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev. Born on January 27 (February 8), 1834 in Tobolsk - died on January 20 (February 2), 1907 in St. Petersburg. Russian scientist-encyclopedist: chemist, physical chemist, physicist, metrologist, economist, technologist, geologist, meteorologist, oil worker, teacher, aeronaut, instrument maker. Professor of St. Petersburg University; Corresponding Member in the “Physical” category of the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Among the most famous discoveries is the periodic law of chemical elements, one of the fundamental laws of the universe, integral to all natural science. Author of the classic work “Fundamentals of Chemistry”.

Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev was born on January 27 (February 8), 1834 in Tobolsk into the family of Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev (1783-1847), who at that time held the position of director of the Tobolsk gymnasium and schools of the Tobolsk district.

Dmitry was the last, seventeenth (according to other sources, fourteenth) child in the family. Of the seventeen children, eight died in infancy (the parents did not even have time to give three of them names), and one of the daughters, Masha, died at the age of 14 in the mid-1820s in Saratov from consumption.

History has preserved the birth document of Dmitry Mendeleev - the metric book of the spiritual consistory for 1834, where on the yellowed page in the column about those born in the Tobolsk Epiphany Church it is written: “On January 27 of the Tobolsk gymnasium of the director - court adviser Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev, a son was born from his legal wife Maria Dmitrievna Dmitry."

His paternal grandfather, Pavel Maksimovich Sokolov (1751-1808), was a priest of the village of Tikhomandritsy, Vyshnevolotsky district, Tver province, located two kilometers from the northern tip of Lake Udomlya. Only one of his four sons, Timofey, kept his father's surname. As was customary at that time among the clergy, after graduating from the seminary, the three sons of P. M. Sokolov were given different surnames: Alexander - Tikhomandritsky (after the name of the village), Vasily - Pokrovsky (after the parish in which Pavel Maksimovich served), and Ivan , Dmitry Ivanovich’s father, received the surname of the neighboring landowners Mendeleev as a nickname (Dmitry Ivanovich himself interpreted its origin this way: “given to his father when he exchanged something, like the neighboring landowner Mendeleev exchanged horses”).

Maria Dmitrievna, the mother of Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev, came from an old family of Siberian merchants and industrialists. This intelligent and energetic woman played a special role in the life of the family. Having no education, she went through the gymnasium course on her own with her brothers. Due to the constraint that developed due to Ivan Pavlovich’s illness financial situation The Mendeleevs moved to the village of Aremzyanskoye, where there was a small glass factory of Maria Dmitrievna’s brother Vasily Dmitrievich Korniliev, who lived in Moscow. Dmitry Mendeleev's mother received the right to manage the factory after the death of I. P. Mendeleev in 1847 big family lived on the funds received from her.

The childhood of D. I. Mendeleev coincided with the time of the exiled Decembrists in Siberia. A. M. Muravyov, P. N. Svistunov, M. A. Fonvizin lived in the Tobolsk province. Dmitry Ivanovich’s sister, Olga, became the wife of former member of the Southern Society N.V. Basargin, and they for a long time lived in Yalutorovsk next to I.I. Pushchin, together with whom they provided the Mendeleev family with assistance, which became essential after the death of Ivan Pavlovich.

Also, his uncle V.D. Korniliev had a great influence on the worldview of the future scientist; the Mendeleevs lived with him repeatedly and for a long time during his stay in Moscow. Vasily Dmitrievich was the manager of the Trubetskoy princes who lived on Pokrovka, like V.D. Korniliev; and his house was often visited by many representatives of the cultural environment, including literary evenings or for no reason at all, writers easily visited: F. N. Glinka, S. P. Shevyrev, I. I. Dmitriev, M. P. Pogodin, E. A. Baratynsky, N. V. Gogol, Sergei was also a guest Lvovich Pushkin, father of the poet; artists P. A. Fedotov, N. A. Ramazanov; scientists: N. F. Pavlov, I. M. Snegirev, P. N. Kudryavtsev. In 1826, Korniliev and his wife, the daughter of Commander Billings, hosted Alexander Pushkin, who returned to Moscow from exile, on Pokrovka.

Information has been preserved indicating that D. I. Mendeleev once saw in the Kornilevs’ house

Despite all this, Dmitry Ivanovich remained the same boy as most of his peers. Dmitry Ivanovich’s son Ivan Mendeleev recalls that once, when his father was unwell, he told him: “My whole body aches like after our school fight on the Tobolsk Bridge.” It should be noted that among the teachers of the gymnasium, the Siberian who taught Russian literature and literature stood out, the later famous Russian poet Pyotr Pavlovich Ershov, from 1844 - inspector of the Tobolsk gymnasium, as once his teacher Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev. Later, the author of “The Little Humpbacked Horse” and Dmitry Ivanovich were destined to become relatives to some extent.

1841 - entered the Tobolsk gymnasium.

1855 - graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Main Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg.

1855 - senior teacher of natural sciences at the Simferopol men's gymnasium. At the request of the St. Petersburg doctor N. F. Zdekauer, in mid-September Dmitry Mendeleev was examined by N. I. Pirogov, who stated the patient’s satisfactory condition: “You will outlive both of us.”

1855-1856 - senior teacher of the gymnasium at the Richelieu Lyceum in Odessa.

1856 - brilliantly defended his dissertation “for the right to give lectures” - “Structure of silica compounds” (opponents A. A. Voskresensky and M. V. Skoblikov), successfully delivered the introductory lecture “Structure of silicate compounds”; at the end of January, D. I. Mendeleev’s candidate’s dissertation “Isomorphism in connection with other relationships of crystalline form to composition” was published as a separate publication in St. Petersburg; On October 10, he was awarded a master's degree in chemistry.

1857 - On January 9, he was confirmed as a private associate professor at the Imperial St. Petersburg University in the Department of Chemistry.

1857-1890 - taught at the Imperial St. Petersburg University (from 1865 - professor of chemical technology, from 1867 - professor general chemistry) - gives lectures on chemistry in the 2nd Cadet Corps; simultaneously in 1863-1872 - professor at St. Petersburg Institute of Technology, in 1863-1872 he headed the chemical laboratory of the institute, and also simultaneously taught at the Nikolaev Engineering Academy and School and at the Institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers.

1859-1861 - was on a scientific trip to Germany.

Having received permission in January 1859 to travel to Europe “to improve in the sciences,” D. I. Mendeleev was only able to leave St. St. Petersburg.

He had a clear research plan - a theoretical consideration of the close relationship between chemical and physical properties substances based on the study of particle adhesion forces, which should have been served by data obtained experimentally during measurements at different temperatures surface tension of liquids - capillarity.

A month later, after becoming familiar with the capabilities of several scientific centers- preference was given to the University of Heidelberg, where outstanding natural scientists work: R. Bunsen, G. Kirchhoff, G. Helmholtz, E. Erlenmeyer and others. There is information that suggests that subsequently D. I. Mendeleev had a meeting in Heidelberg with J. . W. Gibbs. The equipment of R. Bunsen’s laboratory did not allow for such “delicate experiments as capillary experiments,” and D.I. Mendeleev formed an independent research base: he brought gas into the rented apartment, adapted a separate room for the synthesis and purification of substances, and another for observations. In Bonn, the “famous glass maestro” G. Gessler gives him lessons, making about 20 thermometers and “inimitably good instruments for determining specific gravity" He orders special cathetometers and microscopes from the famous Parisian mechanics Perrault and Salleron.

Great value the works of this period have for understanding the methods of large-scale theoretical generalization, to which well-prepared and constructed subtle studies are subordinated, and what will appear characteristic feature his universe. This is a theoretical experiment in “molecular mechanics”, the initial values ​​of which were assumed to be the mass, volume and force of interaction of particles (molecules). The scientist’s workbooks show that he consistently searched for an analytical expression demonstrating the relationship between the composition of a substance and these three parameters. D. I. Mendeleev’s assumption about the function of surface tension associated with the structure and composition of matter allows us to speak of his foresight of “parachor”, but the data of the mid-19th century were not capable of becoming the basis for the logical conclusion of this research - D. I. Mendeleev had to abandon theoretical generalization.

At present, “molecular mechanics,” the main provisions of which D. I. Mendeleev tried to formulate, has only historical significance Meanwhile, these studies of the scientist make it possible to observe the relevance of his views, which corresponded to the advanced ideas of the era, and which became generally widespread only after the International Chemical Congress in Karlsruhe.

In Heidelberg, Mendeleev had an affair with the actress Agnes Feuchtmann, to whom he subsequently sent money for the child, although he was not sure of his paternity.

1860 - September 3-5 takes part in the first International Chemical Congress in Karlsruhe.

1865 - January 31 (February 12) at a meeting of the Council of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University defended his doctoral dissertation

“On the combination of alcohol with water”, in which the foundations of his doctrine of solutions were laid.

December 1868 - February 1869 - on behalf of Volny economic society conducted a survey of artel cheese dairies in Tver and other provinces.

1876 ​​- December 29 (January 10), 1877, he was elected a corresponding member in the “physics” category of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, in 1880 he was nominated as an academician, but on November 11 (23) he was voted out by the German majority of the Academy, which caused a sharp public protest.

He took part in the development of technologies for the first plant in Russia for the production of engine oils, launched in 1879 in the village of Konstantinovsky in the Yaroslavl province, which now bears his name.

1880s - Dmitry Ivanovich again studies solutions, publishes the work “Study of aqueous solutions by specific gravity.”

1880-1888 - took an active part in the development of the project for the creation and construction of the first Siberian University in Russian Asia in Tomsk, for which he repeatedly advised the head of the TSU construction committee, Professor V. M. Florinsky. He was planned to be the first rector of this university, but due to a number of family reasons, he did not go to Tomsk in 1888. A few years later, he actively helped in the creation of the Tomsk Technological Institute and the development of chemical science there.

1890 - left St. Petersburg University due to a conflict with the Minister of Education, who, during student unrest, refused to accept a student petition from Mendeleev.

1892 - Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev - scientist-custodian of the Depot of Model Weights and Scales, which in 1893, on his initiative, was transformed into the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures (now the All-Russian Research Institute of Metrology named after D. I. Mendeleev).

1893 - worked at the chemical plant of P.K. Ushkov (later named after L.Ya. Karpov; Bondyuzhsky village, now Mendeleevsk) using the plant’s production base to produce smokeless gunpowder (pyrocollodia). Subsequently, he noted that having visited “a lot of Western European chemical plants, I saw with pride that what a Russian figure had created could not only not be inferior, but also in many ways surpass foreign ones.”

1899 - heads the Ural expedition, which involves stimulating the industrial and economic development of the region.

1900 - participates in the World Exhibition in Paris; he wrote the first in Russian - a large article on synthetic fibers “Viscose at the Paris Exhibition”, which noted the importance for Russia of the development of their industry.

1903 - the first chairman of the State Examination Commission of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, in the creation of which the scientist took part active participation. About D. I. Mendeleev’s visit to the Institute during the days of the defense of the first theses, among others, Ivan Fedorovich Ponomarev (1882-1982) recalled 60 years later.

Member of many academies of sciences and scientific societies. One of the founders of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society (1868 - chemical, and 1872 - physical) and its third president (since 1932, transformed into the All-Union Chemical Society, which was then named after him, now the Russian Chemical Society named after D.I. . Mendeleev).

D.I. Mendeleev died on January 20 (February 2), 1907 in St. Petersburg from pneumonia. He was buried on the Literary Bridges of the Volkovskoye Cemetery.

He left more than 1,500 works, including the classic “Fundamentals of Chemistry” (parts 1-2, 1869-1871, 13th edition, 1947) - the first harmonious presentation of inorganic chemistry.

The 101st chemical element, mendelevium, is named after Mendeleev.

Mendeleev on demographic growth in Russia:

The scientist clearly shows his attitude to this issue in the context of his beliefs as a whole with the following words: “The highest goal of politics is most clearly expressed in the development of conditions for human reproduction.”

At the beginning of the 20th century, Mendeleev, noting that the population Russian Empire has doubled over the past forty years, calculated that by 2050 its population, while maintaining existing growth, will reach 800 million people.

Objective historical circumstances (primarily wars, revolutions and their consequences) made adjustments to the scientist’s calculations, however, the indicators he arrived at regarding regions and peoples, for one reason or another, less affected by the named unpredictable factors, confirm the validity of his forecasts.

Mendeleev's Nobel epic:

The classification of secrecy, which allows the circumstances of the nomination and consideration of candidates to be made public, implies a period of half a century, that is, what happened in the first decade of the 20th century in the Nobel Committee was known already in the 1960s.

Foreign scientists nominated Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev for the Nobel Prize in 1905, 1906 and 1907 (compatriots - never). The status of the award implied a qualification: the discovery was no more than 30 years old. But the fundamental importance of the periodic law was confirmed precisely at the beginning of the 20th century, with the discovery of inert gases.

In 1905, D.I. Mendeleev’s candidacy was on the “small list” - with the German organic chemist Adolf Bayer, who became the laureate. In 1906 he was nominated by larger number foreign scientists. The Nobel Committee awarded D. I. Mendeleev the prize, but the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences refused to approve this decision, in which the influence of S. Arrhenius, the 1903 laureate for the theory of electrolytic dissociation, played a decisive role - as stated above, there was a misconception about the rejection of this theory by D. I. Mendeleev; The laureate was the French scientist A. Moissan - for the discovery of fluorine.

In 1907, it was proposed to “share” the prize between the Italian S. Cannizzaro and D.I. Mendeleev (Russian scientists again did not participate in his nomination). However, on February 2, the scientist passed away.

Meanwhile, we should not forget about the conflict between D.I. Mendeleev and the Nobel brothers (during the 1880s), who, taking advantage of the crisis in the oil industry and striving for a monopoly on Baku oil, its production and distillation, speculated for this purpose “rumors breathing with intrigue” about her exhaustion. At the same time, D.I. Mendeleev, while conducting research on the composition of oil from different fields, developed new way its fractional distillation, which made it possible to achieve the separation of mixtures volatile substances. He conducted a long polemic with L. E. Nobel and his associates, fighting against the predatory consumption of hydrocarbons, with ideas and methods that contributed to this; among other things, to the great displeasure of his opponent, who used not entirely plausible methods to assert his interests, he proved the groundlessness of the opinion about the impoverishment of Caspian sources. By the way, it was D.I. Mendeleev who proposed the construction of oil pipelines back in the 1860s, which were successfully introduced in the 1880s by the Nobels, who, however, reacted extremely negatively to his proposal for delivering crude oil in this and other ways to Central Russia, because, well aware of the benefits in this for the state as a whole, they also saw this as damage to their own monopoly.

D. I. Mendeleev devoted about 150 works to oil (the study of composition and properties, distillation and other issues related to this topic).

The legend about the invention of vodka by Mendeleev:

In 1865, Dmitry Mendeleev defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Discourse on the combination of alcohol with water,” which had nothing to do with vodka. Mendeleev, contrary to the prevailing legend, did not invent vodka; it existed long before him.

The Russian Standard label says that this vodka“meets the standard of Russian vodka of the highest quality, approved by the tsarist government commission headed by D. I. Mendeleev in 1894.” The name of Mendeleev is associated with the choice of vodka with a strength of 40°. According to the Vodka Museum in St. Petersburg, Mendeleev considered the ideal strength of vodka to be 38°, but this number was rounded to 40 to simplify the calculation of alcohol taxes.

However, it is not possible to find a justification for this choice in the works of Mendeleev.

Mendeleev's dissertation on the properties of mixtures of alcohol and water does not distinguish 40° or 38°. Moreover, Mendeleev's dissertation was devoted to the region of high alcohol concentrations - from 70°.

The “Tsarist Government Commission” could not establish this standard for vodka, if only because this organization - the Commission for finding ways to streamline the production and trade circulation of drinks containing alcohol - was formed at the suggestion of S. Yu. Witte only in 1895 Moreover, Mendeleev spoke at its meetings at the very end of the year and only on the issue of excise taxes.

The year 1894 apparently came from an article by historian William Pokhlebkin, who wrote that “30 years after writing the dissertation... agrees to join the commission.” The manufacturers of the “Russian Standard” added a metaphorical 30 to 1864 and obtained the desired value.

The director of the D.I. Mendeleev Museum, Doctor of Chemical Sciences Igor Dmitriev, said the following about 40-proof vodka: “It was invented by the Russian government at a time when Mendeleev was 9 years old. In those days, the excise tax was taken per degree, it had to be measured, and the measurement scale was imprecise. In addition, it turned out that on the way from producers to consumers ( retail) vodka had the ability to reduce degrees. Then the government issued a decree according to which vodka had to be supplied to the consumer exclusively at 40 degrees, with a minimum of 38 degrees. Otherwise, the participants in the process faced criminal liability.”

Personal life of Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev:

Dmitry Ivanovich was married twice.

In 1862 he married Feozva Nikitichnaya Leshcheva, a native of Tobolsk (stepdaughter of the famous author of “The Little Humpbacked Horse” Pyotr Pavlovich Ershov).

His wife (Fiza, given name) was 6 years older than him. In this marriage three children were born: daughter Maria (1863) - she died in infancy, son Volodya (1865-1898) and daughter Olga (1868-1950).

At the end of 1878, 43-year-old Dmitry Mendeleev fell passionately in love with 18-year-old Anna Ivanovna Popova (1860-1942), the daughter of a Don Cossack from Uryupinsk. In his second marriage, D.I. Mendeleev had four children: Lyubov (1881-1939), Ivan (1883-1936) and twins Maria and Vasily. IN beginning of XXI century, of Mendeleev’s descendants, only Alexander, the grandson of his daughter Maria, is alive.

D. I. Mendeleev was the father-in-law of the Russian poet Alexander Blok, who was married to his daughter Lyubov.

D. I. Mendeleev was the uncle of the Russian scientist Mikhail Yakovlevich (professor-hygienist) and Fyodor Yakovlevich (professor-physicist) Kapustin, who were his sons older sister Ekaterina Ivanovna Mendeleeva (Kapustina).

Biography and episodes of life Dmitry Mendeleev. When born and died Dmitry Mendeleev, memorable places and dates important events his life. Chemist Quotes, photos and videos.

Years of life of Dmitry Mendeleev:

born January 27, 1834, died January 20, 1907

Epitaph

“Let Mendeleev now rise from the grave,
To look at the legend taken from the earth."

From Lev Oshanin’s poem “Tietta” (“Science”)

“The poverty of the crown is a dump of emptiness and blackness.
The uncommunicativeness of the secret will overcome me.
Oh, I wish I could see a transparent palace in the morning
instead of unsteady chaos, like Mendeleev.
<…>
Who pierces the temple without knowing the basics?
Who, funny and affectionate, is watching from close?
And the dream sways... a lulled dream...
dream-argentum in the father’s distinct table.”

From a poem by Bella Akhmadulina

Biography

Member of more than 90 academies of sciences and scientific societies, D. I. Mendeleev forever entered the history of Russian science as the author of the famous periodic law, which every schoolchild knows today. And today, most of us associate the surname of this great man only with the table of elements on the flyleaf of the textbook. Not everyone realizes how wide and multifaceted Mendeleev’s range of scientific interests was, how many developments he carried out and how far he advanced Russian science.

Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev was born into the family of the director of the Tobolsk gymnasium, becoming the last, seventeenth child. Mendeleev owes a lot to his mother, an educated woman who, after the death of her brother, took over the glass factory. The boy was keenly interested in “industrial affairs” and showed remarkable abilities in the natural sciences. His mother, Maria Dmitrievna, noticing her son’s talents, left everything in Siberia and moved to Moscow to send Dmitry to university.

During his studies, Mendeleev showed himself remarkably well and even before graduating from the institute, he began scientific work with honors. The breadth of topics covered is amazing scientific works Mendeleev. IN different periods During his life, Dmitry Ivanovich studied periodic law and organic chemistry; worked on solutions, paying special attention to oil refining technologies and economics in the oil industry; studied the physics of gases and liquids and its practical application - aeronautics and shipbuilding; metrology and standards issues; chemistry solid and the development of solid fuel, as well as smokeless powder; and besides all this - agrochemistry. In many of these areas, Mendeleev's developments became the basis for subsequent powerful leaps in science and production.

But Dmitry Ivanovich cannot be called a superficial lover of squandering; he was not a “book” or “laboratory” worm. Mendeleev never forgot why he was working and always sought not only theoretical truth, but also practical benefit. He was a zealous teacher and proudly took credit for the fact that all his students spoke of him not as a formalist teacher, but as a sincerely enthusiastic mentor who knew how to captivate. He put a lot of effort into developments for industry and sincerely believed that the development of domestic production, to which he contributed, was one of the scientist’s primary goals.

Mendeleev's legacy has outlived him and will certainly live on for many decades to come. Many of Dmitry Ivanovich’s thoughts have become even more relevant in our time than they were a century and a half ago. It was he who said that burning oil is like heating a furnace with paper money; It was he, long before the advent of industrial, smog-shrouded cities, who called for attention to issues of smoke in production. Dmitry Mendeleev died after living richest life filled with work for the good of the homeland. He did not live long enough to reach the age of 73, struck down by pneumonia, an exacerbation of long-term tuberculosis, which Mendeleev began to suffer from in his youth. The scientist’s funeral at the Volkovskoye cemetery became a major public event and was attended by a large crowd of people.

Life line

January 27, 1834 Date of birth of Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev.
1850 Admission to the Department of Natural Sciences of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Main Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg.
1855 Graduation from the institute with a gold medal.
1856 Defense of the master's thesis.
1857 Approval by a private assistant professor of the university, beginning of teaching work.
1859-1861 Scientific trip to Germany, work in the laboratory of Bunsen and Kirchhoff at the University of Heidelberg.
1861 Publication of Mendeleev's textbook on organic chemistry.
1862 First marriage to Feozva Lesheva.
1865 Defense of doctoral dissertation. Obtaining the degree of professor of technical chemistry at St. Petersburg University. Start of work on the work “Fundamentals of Chemistry”.
1868 Mendeleev becomes one of the founders of the Russian Chemical Society.
1869 Promulgation of the periodic table of elements.
1876 Mendeleev becomes a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
1878 Second marriage to Anna Popova.
1890 Leaving the university.
1892 Appointment by the keeper of the Case of Exemplary Weights and Measures.
1899 Optional assumption at the insistence of Mendeleev in Russia of the metric system.
January 20, 1907 Date of death of Dmitry Mendeleev.
January 23, 1907 Funeral of Dmitry Mendeleev at the Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Memorable places

1. Tobolsk, where Dmitry Mendeleev was born.
2. House No. 7/9 on Universitetskaya embankment. (formerly the University Line) in St. Petersburg, where Mendeleev lived in the building of the Main Pedagogical Institute in 1850-1855. and in 1866-1890.
3. House No. 9 on the Kadetskaya Line of Military District in St. Petersburg (Lingen apartment building), where Mendeleev lived in 1890-1893.
4. House No. 19, bldg. 1 along Moskovsky (formerly Zabalkansky) Avenue in St. Petersburg, where Mendeleev’s office was located in the building of the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures in 1893-1897. Nowadays it is a monument of federal significance.
5. Monument to D.I. Mendeleev in front of house No. 19, bldg. 4 along Moskovsky Avenue, where the scientist’s apartment was located (No. 5) in 1897-1907. Nowadays it is a monument of federal significance.
6. Volkovskoe cemetery in St. Petersburg, where Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev is buried on the Literatorskie Mostki.
7. House-museum of D. I. Mendeleev in the village. Boblovo, in the Klinsky district of the Moscow region, where Mendeleev acquired an estate in the 1860s. and spent the summer there.

Episodes of life

Many legends have developed around Mendeleev’s discoveries, which have only an indirect relation to the truth. Dmitry Ivanovich, for example, really became the author of a scientific work on the combination of alcohol with water, but had no direct relation to the “invention of vodka” - he was interested in completely different concentrations. And the story about the appearance of the periodic table in a dream is nothing more than an allegory.

Mendeleev traveled half the world on scientific trips; he visited both Germany and France more than 30 times; I visited the UK, Italy, Switzerland many times, and even visited the USA.

Mendeleev had seven children. His daughter from his second marriage, Lyubov, became the wife of the poet Alexander Blok.

Testaments

“Be able to always transfer yourself to the point of view of an opposing opinion - this is true wisdom.”

“Everything comes only through work. Everything is due to human labor, this is the slogan of history.”

“The highest goal of politics is most clearly expressed in the development of conditions for human reproduction.”

“The fruits of my labors are, first of all, scientific fame, which constitutes pride - not just my personal, but also the general Russian one... Best time life and its main strength was teaching... My third service to the Motherland is the least visible, although it has bothered me from a young age to this day. This is service to the best of our ability and ability for the benefit of the growth of Russian industry.”

Documentary film about Dmitry Mendeleev from the series “Great Names of Russia”

Condolences

“He is one of the most brilliant chemists of the 19th century.”
Michele Giua, author of The History of Chemistry

“No Russian had a more important, more lasting influence on the development of physical knowledge than Mendeleev. His way of working and thinking is so original, his methods of teaching and lecturing are so original, and the success of the great generalization with which his name and fame are associated is so amazingly complete that in the eyes of the scientific world of Europe and America he became the same for Russia. what Berzelius was to Sweden, Liebig to Germany, Dumas to France.”
T. Thorpe, English chemist

“Dmitry Ivanovich, raising us up and arousing the deepest aspirations of the human personality for knowledge and its active application, aroused in so many such logical conclusions and moods that were far from himself.”
V. I. Vernadsky, academician, student of Mendeleev’s lectures

“He has long known EVERYTHING that happens in the world. Penetrated everything. Nothing is hidden from him. His knowledge is the most complete. It comes from genius, ordinary people this doesn’t happen..."
Alexander Blok, Mendeleev's son-in-law, poet

Name: Dmitry Mendeleev

Age: 72 years old

Place of birth: Tobolsk

Place of death: Saint Petersburg

Activity: great Russian chemist

Marital status: was married to Anyuta Popova

Dmitry Mendeleev - biography

When the seventeenth child, Mitya Mendeleev, was born into the family of the director of the Tobolsk gymnasium on February 8, 1834, the doctor said: “Not a survivor.” Either his mother’s efforts helped, or God’s providence, but Mitenka survived and got stronger. He would have to hear these words more than once, both literally and figuratively. Doctors predicted imminent death, the gymnasium considered him to have no prospects, he was not accepted into the university, his colleagues rejected his hypotheses, and sometimes even laughed.

When the opponents had nothing to hide, the last argument was used: Mendeleev was accused of Jewish origin. In fact, his father's last name was Sokolov. According to legend, Ivan Pavlovich once bartered a horse from a merchant - “he made a barter”, and according to the consonance in the book, he was written down as Mendeleev.

Mendeleev Jr. turned out to be a mediocre high school student. Latin was especially difficult for him - the boy had a light, fast mind, and he refused to accept anything that had to do with cramming. And yet, he decided to study at the Medical-Surgical Academy, where he had to know Latin well.

The trip to Moscow was in vain: the applicant ended up at the autopsy, where he felt ill. They didn’t accept me into Moscow University either. Today you can read in textbooks that the future great chemist allegedly failed the chemistry exam. But this subject was not studied in gymnasiums and entrance exam Moreover, they weren’t happy with it. Everything was more prosaic: universities accepted students “by registration,” and a high school student from Tobolsk could only study at Kazan University.

The loving mother used all her connections and acquaintances and managed to locate her son in St. Petersburg. So Mendeleev became a student at the Main Pedagogical Institute, which his father had once graduated from.

After some time, the future scientist received news of the sudden death of his mother. A little later, sister Elizabeth died of tuberculosis, and soon Dmitry himself fell ill with consumption - stress and the damp metropolitan climate took their toll. Doctors in once again They told Mendeleev: “Not a good guy” and advised him to go to Crimea to see Pirogov. Having examined the young man, the luminary of medicine laughed: “You will outlive us all!” And indeed, the disease subsided.

Inspired, Dmitry returned to science. He graduated with honors from the institute, defended two dissertations within a few months of each other, and at the beginning of 1857 became a private assistant professor at St. Petersburg University. The young scientist was only 23 years old, he was well versed in the natural sciences, and he was predicted to have a great future. Mendeleev was unable to comprehend only one formula...

Dmitry Mendeleev - biography of personal life: formula of love

Dmitry often recalled in his biography his first meeting with Sonechka. Judging by the entries in her diary, she did not forget.

She is 8 years old, her dad takes her to the Tobolsk gymnasium for a dance lesson. She is paired with a young man. He is already 14, but for some reason he is embarrassed by the girl, pulls his hand away and leaves. Sonechka bit her lip to keep from crying, but he didn’t notice anything. It turns out he noticed.

Almost ten years have passed since that meeting. And now it was not Mitya, but private assistant professor Dmitry Ivanovich who met Sonya Kash in St. Petersburg. Sonya's family leaves for a manor in Karelia - the lover follows them. To this day, the Mendeleev Apartment Museum houses the herbarium collected by Dmitry and Sophia on the shores of Lake Saimaa.

When she turned 18, Mendeleev came to woo her. The girl did not say “yes,” but everyone already considered her Mendeleev’s bride. The wedding day was set, friends and relatives congratulated the happy lover, but... Sonechka was afraid of the hasty marriage and told her father that she would say “no” at the wedding. He conveyed her refusal.

Dmitry fell ill. For three days I drank only water, and on the fourth I came home ex-fiancée. “He kissed my hands passionately, and they were wet from his tears. I will never forget this difficult moment,” Sonya wrote in her diary. In Mendeleev’s notes, on the contrary, everything is simple and scientifically dry: “I wanted to get married, but she refused.”

For two years he lectured, but everything in St. Petersburg reminded him of Sonya. To forget himself, Mendeleev asked for a business trip and went to Germany for two years. When he returned, he wrote the first textbook in Russia “ Organic chemistry", for which he received the Demidov Prize - the highest scientific prize in Russia. But even such successes did not help heal the heart wound.

Sister Olga decided to help - she found the bride, again from Tobolsk and again an old friend. Feozva was adopted daughter Pyotr Ershov, author of The Little Humpbacked Horse, teacher at the Mendeleev Gymnasium. Six years older, ugly, unloved... Despite this, in April 1862, Mendeleev and Feozva got married. Daughter Mashenka, born a year later, died soon after. One after another, two more children appeared - Volodya and Olenka. But the marriage was bursting at the seams: the wife did not want to understand what her husband was doing, she made scandals, accused him of inattention and wasting time.

But young beauty Anyuta Popova admired everything the scientist did, and when she visited the Mendeleevs’ house, she listened to him with rapture. In order not to lead to sin, Popova’s father sent his daughter to Italy. Mendeleev rushed after her. A month later, the lovers announced their intention to get married. A scandal broke out: she was 19 years old, he was 43. The wife agreed to divorce, but according to the law, to enter into new marriage it was possible only after a few years. According to rumors, to perform the wedding ceremony, Mendeleev gave the priest a huge sum for those times - 10 thousand rubles.

This marriage produced four children: Lyuba, Vanya and twins Masha and Vasya. The eldest Lyuba later became the wife of Alexander Blok, and “Poems about a Beautiful Lady” is dedicated to her.

Dmitry Mendeleev - " prophetic dream"and vodka

Ordinary people know two facts from Mendeleev’s biography: he invented vodka and saw his famous table in a dream. It's a pity, because he did much more. For example, he created smokeless gunpowder and even started its production. However, the government did not have time to patent it, and the invention “sailed” overseas. As a result, Russia was forced to buy Mendeleev gunpowder from the United States.

When creating the periodic system of chemical elements, Mendeleev arranged them in order of increasing atomic weight. There was nothing to fill some of the cells with - science at that time did not know many elements - and he left the cells empty. The genius of the system became clear later, after the scientist’s death: chemists discovered new elements, and each had a place in the table.

Mendeleev was often asked how this brilliant idea came to him. The scientist soon got tired of explaining the details to amateurs, and he began to laugh it off: he was tired in the laboratory, went to take a nap, had a dream, and when he woke up, he quickly wrote everything down on a piece of paper. Mendeleev said to only one newspaperman: “I’ve been thinking about it for maybe twenty years, but you think: I sat there and suddenly... it’s ready.”

The “invention” of vodka by scientists also turned out to be a myth. He was born thanks to the dissertation that Dmitry Ivanovich defended in 1865. The work was called “Discourse on the combination of alcohol with water” and was devoted to the study of the interaction of two liquids. At the same time, there was no talk about vodka. In fact, vodka with an ideal strength of 40° appeared back in 1843, when Mendeleev was only 9 years old.

His range of interests was extremely wide. Dmitry Ivanovich studied oil fields Caucasus and Donbass coal, realizing that this fuel is the future. In 1892, he headed the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures (some of the standards produced under him are still in use). Being a passionate collector of sculpture and painting, Mendeleev was a full member of the Academy of Arts and an honorary member of many foreign academies. Ironically, in Russian Academy sciences did not accept him.

Mendeleev Dmitry Ivanovich - Russian scientist, brilliant chemist, physicist, researcher in the field of metrology, hydrodynamics, geology, deep expert in industry, instrument maker, economist, aeronaut, teacher, public figure and an original thinker.

Childhood and youth

The great scientist was born in 1834, on February 8, in Tobolsk. Father Ivan Pavlovich was the director of district schools and the Tobolsk gymnasium, descended from the family of priest Pavel Maksimovich Sokolov, Russian by nationality.

Ivan changed his last name in childhood, while a student at the Tver Seminary. Presumably this was done in honor of him godfather, landowner Mendeleev. Later, the question of the nationality of the scientist’s surname was repeatedly raised. According to some sources, she testified about Jewish roots, according to others - about German ones. Dmitry Mendeleev himself said that his surname was assigned to Ivan by his teacher from the seminary. The young man made a successful exchange and thereby became famous among his classmates. With two words - “to do” - Ivan Pavlovich was included in the educational record.

Mother Maria Dmitrievna (nee Kornilieva) was involved in raising children and housekeeping, had a reputation as an intelligent and smart woman. Dmitry was the youngest in the family, the last of fourteen children (according to other information, the last of seventeen children). At the age of 10, the boy lost his father, who became blind and soon died.

While studying at the gymnasium, Dmitry did not show any abilities; Latin was the most difficult for him. His mother instilled a love for science, and she also participated in the formation of his character. Maria Dmitrievna took her son to study in St. Petersburg.

In 1850, in St. Petersburg, the young man entered the Main Pedagogical Institute at the department of natural sciences, physics and mathematics. His teachers were professors E. H. Lenz, A. A. Voskresensky and N. V. Ostrogradsky.

While studying at the institute (1850-1855), Mendeleev demonstrated extraordinary abilities. As a student, he published an article “On Isomorphism” and a number of chemical analyzes.

Science

In 1855, Dmitry received a diploma with a gold medal and a referral to Simferopol. Here he works as a senior teacher at the gymnasium. With the beginning Crimean War Mendeleev moved to Odessa and received a teaching position at the Lyceum.

In 1856 he was again in St. Petersburg. He studies at the university, defends his dissertation, teaches chemistry. In the fall, he defends another dissertation and is appointed private professor at the university.

In 1859, Mendeleev was sent on a business trip to Germany. Works at the University of Heidelberg, sets up a laboratory, studies capillary liquids. Here he wrote articles “On the temperature of absolute boiling” and “On the expansion of liquids”, and discovered the phenomenon of “critical temperature”.

In 1861, the scientist returned to St. Petersburg. He creates the textbook “Organic Chemistry”, for which he was awarded the Demidov Prize. In 1864 he was already a professor, and two years later he headed the department, teaching and working on the “Fundamentals of Chemistry.”

In 1869, he introduced the periodic system of elements, to the improvement of which he devoted his entire life. In the table Mendeleev presented atomic mass nine elements, later added a group of noble gases to the arch and left room for elements that had yet to be discovered. In the 90s, Dmitry Mendeleev contributed to the discovery of the phenomenon of radioactivity. Periodic law included evidence of the connection between the properties of elements and their atomic volume. Now next to each table of chemical elements there is a photo of the discoverer.

In 1865–1887 he developed the hydration theory of solutions. In 1872 he began to study the elasticity of gases, two years later he derived the equation ideal gas. Among Mendeleev's achievements of this period was the creation of a scheme for fractional distillation of petroleum products, the use of tanks and pipelines. With the assistance of Dmitry Ivanovich, the burning of black gold in furnaces completely stopped. The scientist’s phrase “Burning oil is like burning a stove with banknotes” has become an aphorism.

Another area of ​​activity of the scientist was geographical research. In 1875, Dmitry Ivanovich attended the Paris International Geographical Congress, where he presented his invention - a differential barometer-altimeter. In 1887, the scientist took part in a balloon trip into the upper atmosphere to observe a total solar eclipse.

In 1890, a quarrel with high-ranking official became the reason for Mendeleev's departure from the university. In 1892, a chemist invents a method for producing smokeless gunpowder. At the same time, he is appointed keeper of the Depot of Exemplary Weights and Measures. Here he renews the prototypes of the pound and arshin, and makes calculations comparing Russian and English standards of measures.

On the initiative of Mendeleev, in 1899 the metric system of measures was optionally introduced. In 1905, 1906 and 1907, the scientist was nominated as a candidate for the Nobel Prize. In 1906, the Nobel Committee awarded the prize to Mendeleev, but the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences did not confirm this decision.

Mendeleev, who was the author of more than one and a half thousand works, had enormous scientific authority in the world. For his services, the scientist was awarded numerous scientific titles, Russian and foreign awards, and was an honorary member of a number of scientific societies at home and abroad.

Personal life

In his youth, an unpleasant incident happened to Dmitry. His courtship with the girl Sonya, whom he had known since childhood, ended in an engagement. But the pampered beauty never went to the crown. On the eve of the wedding, when preparations were already underway in full swing, Sonechka refused to get married. The girl thought that there was no point in changing anything if life was already good.

Dmitry was painfully worried about the breakup with his fiancée, but life went on as usual. He was distracted from his heavy thoughts by a trip abroad, lecturing and true friends. Having renewed his relationship with Feozva Nikitichnaya Leshcheva, whom he had known previously, he began dating her. The girl was 6 years older than Dmitry, but looked young, so the age difference was unnoticeable.

In 1862 they became husband and wife. The first daughter Masha was born in 1863, but lived only a few months. In 1865, a son, Volodya, was born, and three years later, a daughter, Olya. Dmitry Ivanovich was attached to children, but devoted little time to them, since his life was devoted to scientific activity. In a marriage concluded on the principle of “endure and fall in love,” he was not happy.

In 1877, Dmitry met Anna Ivanovna Popova, who became for him a person capable of supporting him in difficult times. smart word. The girl turned out to be a creatively gifted person: she studied piano at the conservatory, and later at the Academy of Arts.

Dmitry Ivanovich hosted youth “Fridays”, where he met Anna. “Fridays” were transformed into literary and artistic “environments”, the regulars of which were talented artists and professors. Among them were Nikolai Wagner, Nikolai Beketov and others.

The marriage of Dmitry and Anna took place in 1881. Soon their daughter Lyuba was born, son Ivan appeared in 1883, twins Vasily and Maria - in 1886. In his second marriage, the scientist’s personal life was happy. Later, the poet became Dmitry Ivanovich's son-in-law, having married the daughter of the scientist Lyubov.

Death

At the beginning of 1907, a meeting between Dmitry Mendeleev and the new Minister of Industry Dmitry Filosofov took place in the Chamber of Weights and Measures. After touring the ward, the scientist fell ill with a cold, which caused pneumonia. But even being very ill, Dmitry continued to work on the manuscript “Towards the Knowledge of Russia”, the last words he wrote in which were the phrase:

“In conclusion, I consider it necessary, at least in the most general outline, express..."

Death occurred at five o'clock in the morning on February 2 due to cardiac paralysis. The grave of Dmitry Mendeleev is located at the Volkov cemetery in St. Petersburg.

The memory of Dmitry Mendeleev is immortalized by a number of monuments, documentaries, the book “Dmitry Mendeleev. The author of the great law."

• Many interesting biographical facts are associated with the name of Dmitry Mendeleev. In addition to his activities as a scientist, Dmitry Ivanovich was engaged in industrial exploration. In the 70s, the oil industry began to flourish in the United States, and technologies appeared that made the production of petroleum products cheaper. Russian manufacturers began to suffer losses in the international market due to their inability to compete on price.
• In 1876, at the request of the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Russian Technical Society, which collaborated with the military department, Mendeleev went overseas to an exhibition of technical innovations. On site, the chemist learned innovative principles for making kerosene and other petroleum products. And using commissioned reports from European railway services, Dmitry Ivanovich tried to decipher the method of making smokeless gunpowder, which he succeeded in doing.

• Mendeleev had a hobby - making suitcases. The scientist sewed his own clothes.
• The scientist is credited with the invention of vodka and the moonshine still. But in fact, Dmitry Ivanovich, in the topic of his doctoral dissertation “Discourse on the combination of alcohol with water,” studied the issue of reducing the volume of mixed liquids. There was not a word about vodka in the scientist’s work. And the standard of 40° was established in Tsarist Russia back in 1843.
• He came up with pressurized compartments for passengers and pilots.
• There is a legend that the discovery of Mendeleev’s periodic system happened in a dream, but this is a myth created by the scientist himself.
• He rolled his own cigarettes using expensive tobacco. He said that he would never quit smoking.

Discoveries

• He created a controlled balloon, which became an invaluable contribution to aeronautics.
• Developed by periodic table chemical elements, which became a graphic expression of the law established by Mendeleev during his work on the “Fundamentals of Chemistry”.
• He created a pycnometer, a device capable of determining the density of a liquid.
• Discovered the critical boiling point of liquids.
• Created an equation of state for an ideal gas, establishing the relationship between absolute temperature ideal gas, pressure and molar volume.
• He opened the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures - the central institution of the Ministry of Finance, which was in charge of the verification department of the Russian Empire, subordinate to the trade department.

Scientist, geologist, oil worker, teacher, instrument maker, meteorologist and aeronaut Mendeleev Dmitry Ivanovich left a deep mark on the science of not only our state, but the whole world. All of him scientific research and achievements are presented in 25 volumes!

Created by him « Periodic table chemical elements" established the dependence of various properties of elements on the charge of the atomic nucleus and was accepted throughout the world. This was one of the greatest discoveries in chemistry of all times and peoples.

Brief biography

Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev was born January 27, 1834 in the city of Tobolsk of the Russian Empire. He was the 17th and most youngest child in the family.

His father - Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev, director of the Tobolsk gymnasium and schools of the Tobolsk district. His mother - Maria Dmitrievna Mendeleeva (Kornilieva), came from a long-standing Siberian family of merchants and industrialists.

The character and morals of Dmitry Ivanovich

Mendeleev had a difficult character: he did not let anyone down, directly pointing out mistakes. However, he himself did not like it if anyone pointed out his mistakes. He combined the qualities great scientist-thinker and a simple craftsman.

He had a hobby - made suitcases, bound books. He was a patriot of his country, devoted all his strength to strengthening Russian industry, sought to free it from economic and scientific dependence West. But I did not always find support in this from my colleagues.

First interest in science

Interest in science The young man showed up during classes at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Main Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg, where he entered in 1851 and graduated with a gold medal. Having become an assistant professor, he, as a promising teacher, received the right to a two-year internship abroad. He went to Germany, to the University of Heidelberg, where famous scientists of that time worked - Bunsen, Kirchhoff, Kopp.

In 1892, Minister of Finance S. Yu. Witte offered him the position of Scientific Guardian of the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures. Mendeleev agreed, and thanks to his activities in 1899, the Law on Weights and Measures, who established the basic units of measurement - pound and arshin.

He also invented smokeless gunpowder, but Russian government did not have time to patent it, and the right to the invention "sailed away" overseas.

Fruitful period

After returning to St. Petersburg, Mendeleev lectured at the university on organic chemistry and published a textbook based on them "Organic Chemistry". In 1864 he was elected professor at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology, where a year later he defended his famous dissertation “On compounds of alcohol with water”, became a doctor of chemistry.

The most fruitful period in the scientist’s life has arrived. By placing chemical elements in order of increasing atomic weight, Mendeleev noticed a pattern of changes and their properties.

Worldwide recognition

In 1887 In Klin, he decided to take off in a hot air balloon to observe a solar eclipse. He flew to the Tver province, where he landed. This flight was widely discussed by scientists in Russia and abroad. The French Academy of Meteorological Aeronautics awarded Mendeleev a diploma "For showing courage during flight".

Foreign scientists highly valued Mendeleev’s contribution to science and nominated him three times for Nobel Prize(in 1905,1906 and 1907). In 1907, it was proposed to “share” the Nobel Prize between the Italian S. Cannizzaro and D.I. Mendeleev.

However January 20, 1907 Russian scientist died of pneumonia. Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev is buried at the Volkovsky cemetery in St. Petersburg on the Literary Bridges.