DMITRI MENDELEEV: BIOGRAPHY, CONTRIBUTIONS - ARTE - 2026

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834-1907) was a Russian chemist who brought great discoveries to the science of Europe and the world. He is considered the most important contributor to the development of the periodic table of elements, although he also conducted studies on oil or the introduction of the metric system in Russia.

He worked for years with different institutions in his country in large teaching and research positions focused on chemistry. By 1870, he was already recognized as responsible for transforming Saint Petersburg into a specialized center for scientific research.

Biography

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, son of Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev and Mariya Dmitriyevna Kornilevas, was born in the city of Tobolsk, in western Siberia. According to Russian custom, he was given a middle name, Ivanovich, which means son of Ivan.

On the other hand, according to the Julian calendar, used in Russia at the time, he was born on January 27, 1834. However, according to the Gregorian calendar (followed by the rest of the world), the date corresponds to February 8.

Dmitri Mendeleev was the youngest of a very large family. Some historians claim that in all there were fourteen children, others say there were seventeen.

The Kornileva family had some important businesses in Siberia. Almost fifty years earlier, Dmitri's maternal grandfather had launched the first newspaper in Siberian history.

In 1847, Dmitri's father died, who had gone blind in the year of his birth. To support the family, the mother was employed as the manager of a small glass factory owned by her father in a nearby town.

Initial education

In the early years of his education, Dmitri Mendeleev did not show much enthusiasm in his studies. He rarely paid attention to them, and his poor grades were evidence of his lack of interest.

Now, the only subjects Dmitri excelled at were math and science. He was especially interested in physics, the study of matter, motion, and energy.

Unfortunately, Dmitri's school focused much more on classical subjects, such as famous works of literature written in Greek and Latin. These subjects were obviously not of interest to Dmitri

His mother, Mariya, noticed the boy's interest in science. So to motivate her, I invited her to visit the glass factory frequently. During these visits he learned all about glass and its manufacturing technique.

Higher education

In December 1848, the factory caught fire, so his mother took him to St. Petersburg. There he enrolled in the Principal Pedagogical Institute. Sadly, his mother died shortly before graduation.

In 1855, Mendeleev graduated and immediately obtained his first teaching post at Simferopol in the Crimea. He worked there for two months. Then he went to work at the high school in Odessa (Ukraine)

Shortly after working in Odessa, she decided to return to Saint Petersburg to continue her education. Four years later, in 1856, he received a master's degree and began researching organic chemistry.

Funded by a government scholarship, he went to study for two years at the University of Heidelberg. Simultaneously with his studies, he installed a laboratory in his own department for his research

In 1861, Mendeleev returned to Saint Petersburg, where he obtained a professorship at the Technological Institute in 1864. He became Professor of General Chemistry in 1867 and continued to teach there until 1890.

Personal life

Dmitri mendeleev's personal life was hectic and full of scandals. In 1862, he married Feozva Nikitichna Leshcheva, and in 1882 he married Anna Ivanova Popova. In his marriages he had six children.

The marriage with Feozva was an unhappy marriage. To such an extent that they lived apart since 1871. In 1876, he met Anna Ivanova Popova and began to court her.

Anna was a young music student who captivated him. Despite opposition from his parents, the Orthodox Church, and his wife's reluctance to allow a divorce, Mendeleev continued their affair.

In 1881, he proposed to her while still married to Feozva. The Russian Church of that time was against divorce. When Mendeleev ended his first marriage, the Church forbade him from remarriage for six years.

However, Dmitri violated both rules. This generated a great public uproar. It is claimed that this fact contributed to his not being admitted to the Russian Academy of Sciences (despite having all the merits).

Activities outside the laboratory

Mendeleev was also a prolific thinker and writer. His published works include 400 books, articles and numerous unpublished manuscripts. These are still preserved by the Saint Petersburg State University.

In the 1890s, he was part of a major project called the Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, and launched a series of publications titled Biblioteka promyshlennykh znany (Library of Industrial Knowledge)

In March 1890, Mendeleev had to resign his post at the university after supporting protesting students. From there, he began working as a consultant to the Russian government

In 1892, he was appointed director of the newly created Central Office of Weights and Measures. There he made important contributions to metrology. His activities went beyond the managerial aspect of his position.

While he was in charge of this office, he was in charge of the renewal of the length and weight prototypes. He also bought up-to-date precision instruments.

With great dedication, he was in charge of improving the office equipment. At the same time, he devoted himself to carrying out extensive research in metrology and updating the measurement pattern systems.

Last years and death

In the last years of his career, Mendeleev was recognized internationally for his contributions to the field of chemistry. He received honorary awards from Oxford and Cambridge, as well as a medal from the Royal Society of London.

Mendeleev died of influenza on February 2, 1907. His remains were buried in the Volkovskoye Memorial Cemetery, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

At his funeral, his students brought a large periodic table as a tribute to his work.

Dmitri Mendeleev is considered a Russian national hero and one of the leading thinkers of the 20th century. His memory is preserved in his Memorial Apartment Museum at Saint Petersburg State University

The apartment where the museum is located was the home of Mendeleev and his family from 1866 to 1890. The museum also contains exhibits that reveal Mendeleev's life from his childhood until his death.

Mendeleev's main scientific contributions

Introduction of the metric system

Due to his success in the research areas of different institutes in the country, Mendeleev became a strong scientific authority in Europe.

With his efforts, he introduced and established the metric system in the Russian empire, as well as inventing pyrochlodion gunpowder for the Royal Navy.

Standard way of preparing vodka

In 1865 he received a doctorate in science for his dissertation on "The combinations of alcohol and water."

This fascination for molecular weights culminated in different contributions, among them, the standardized way of preparing vodka, which was even passed into law by the government in 1894, where it is established that the drink must be prepared with 40% alcohol of the total. of its volume.

Spectroscope study

He studied in depth the function of the spectroscope, a useful instrument for breaking down light into its spectrum.

His first book was on this subject, and it was critically acclaimed by the scientific society. In his academic career, he also wrote the most important book at the time on the study of chemistry: Principles of Chemistry (1868-1870).

Studies on the composition of oil

His general studies on the composition of oil –due to his interest in liquids– also made him responsible for great industrial advances, laying the foundations and co-founding the first oil refinery in Russia.

The periodic table

While writing his book on the principles of chemistry, Mendeleev noticed certain patterns that led to the creation of his acclaimed periodic table of the elements, an early prototype on which the table as we know it is based today.

It was 1869, and the atomic structure was technically unknown to science. However, Mendeleev thought that the elements were related to each other by characteristics such as their atomic weight, even "predicting" the existence of still unknown elements based on these characteristics.

This structure established, for example, that if the elements are arranged according to their atomic mass, the periodic properties come out.

At first, the table did not cause a din, but when other researchers managed to identify the “missing elements” that Mendeleev predicted with great precision, the periodic table would go on to become one of the most important contributions to chemistry, since it gave structure to something never before categorized, like the vast characteristics of the elements.

For many years, it saw colossal discoveries happen about new elements, and despite fearing that some of these would endanger its structure, over time they could be incorporated without creating any major alteration to the table.

Mendeleev even witnessed in 1900 how noble gas identification fit perfectly into his system, thus creating a new column between halogens and alkalis.

Studies on liquids

For Mendeleev, one of his greatest interests was the characteristics of liquids. He investigated the effects of heat in liquids and how they expand, even anticipating studies that would be carried out later on.

Thanks to his fascination with oil, he correctly established in 1877 that the origin of hydrocarbons was in the depths of the earth and that this is where his search should be concentrated. Arguably, the scientist focused his study on compounds and solutions.

Due to the impetus he presented in technical studies such as measurements, calibration and general analysis, he was named founder of metrology in Russia, which is the aspect of science that is dedicated to the standardization and description of measurements, among other characteristics.

Despite his invaluable contributions to chemistry, Mendeleev's work branched out into countless areas of science, with great performance in each.

He had an important impact on geology, hydrodynamics, meteorology and physics, without neglecting his contributions to the Russian economy even with his theories on agriculture and trade protection.

References

1. BBC Media (2017) The periodic table. Bitesize. Recovered from bbc.co.uk.
2. Chem Europe (sf) Dmitri Mendeleev. Chem Europe. Recovered from chemeurope.com.
3. Corrosion Doctors (sf) Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907). Corrosion Doctors Biographies. Recovered from corrosion-doctors.org
4. The Doc (sf) Dmitri Mendeleev. Famous Scientists: the art of genius. Recovered from famousscientists.org
5. Complutense University (2012) Chemistry in the world. Annals of Medical Hydrology. Volume 5- (1), pp. 113-134.