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Biography: Dimitri Ivanovich Mendeleev 1
Biography: Dimitri Ivanovich Mendeleev 1
Dmitri Mendeleev was born on February 8, ing the solutions under the guidance of Robert
1834 in Tobolsk, a town in the western part of Si- Bunsen and Gustav Kirchoff.
beria. He was probably the last of seventeen chil- All scientists who were interested in atoms and
dren (some sources suggest, however, that he was elements at that time, arranged to have an interna-
the last of fourteen children) born to Ivan Pavlo- tional conference in Karlsruhe , West Germany.
vich Mendeleev and Maria Dmitrievna Mendele- In 1860, Dmitri attended the Karlsruhe Con-
ev. Dmitri's father Ivan taught literature and was a gress, where he met many leading chemists of that
head-master of an advanced secondary school, time. Undoubtedly, it had a tremendous impact
called a gymnasium. Unfortunately, Ivan lost his on young Mendeleev, because only two years after
sight and died when Dmitri was still a young boy. this event he wrote his dissertation On the Com-
His mother received a small pension, but it was binations of Water with Alcohol and became a
not enough money to provide for her family. professor of chemistry at the University in Saint
However, Maria was a resourceful woman and she Petersburg. During this time he also wrote a com-
managed to re-open a glass factory that had previ- prehensive textbook on organic chemistry.
ously belonged to one of her relatives. Disaster As a professor, Mendeleev was highly respected
struck when Dmitri was 15, and the glass factory and valued by his students: he was eloquent, brave
was destroyed by fire. Consequently, Maria and and, most importantly, he was viewed as a moral
her son moved to Moscow, where she hoped her and scientific authority. His lectures were attended
son would attend university. Unfortunately, their by a great number of students from numerous de-
plan failed and Dmitri entered the Main Pedagog- partments, who were literally fighting for seats.
ical Institute, where gymnasium teachers were ed- When Mendeleev walked into classrooms he was
ucated. He studied mathematics, physics, and greeted by silence, which turned immediately into
chemistry and was awarded the medal of excel- standing ovations.
lence for being first in his class. Influenced by his family, Dmitri proposed
Due to his poor health, he moved to Simfero- marriage to Feozva Nikitichna Leshcheva in 1861.
pol (in southern Russia) and became a teacher in Soon after the engagement, they were married in
the local gymnasium. Unluckily, his career was the Naval cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Saint Pe-
interrupted by the Crimean War, and the gymna- tersburg. They had two children together: Vladi-
sium where he worked was converted into a hospi- mir and Olga. Unfortunately, because of person-
tal. Mendeleev moved back to Saint Petersburg, ality differences, their marriage ended in divorce.
where he became employed as an assistant in the Mendeleev's work at the university ended un-
General Chemistry Cathedral of the University. expectedly. Having sided with his students over a
After two years, in 1857, he began delivering lec- dispute, he handed the Minister of Education a
tures for students. petition in which the students had presented nu-
In January, 1859, Mendeleev moved and spent merous demands. After being punished for his
two years abroad. At the beginning, he studied in action, he resigned from the university position
Paris under the supervision of Professor Henri and was appointed as the Director of the Bureau of
Victor Regnault. Later, he travelled to Heidelberg, Weights and Measures. He remained at this posi-
where he continued his research, this time study- tion for the rest of his life.