Dmitry Mendeleev is rightfully considered one of the greatest scientists not only of Russia, but of the whole world, and indeed of all times and peoples. Although he helped most people thanks to the table of chemical elements he invented, he succeeded in a variety of fields of science, and humanity owes him a lot, a lot. He also applied his knowledge in practice, presenting many useful devices to society.
- The great scientist had sixteen brothers and sisters. He was the youngest in the family.
- During his studies at the Pedagogical Institute, due to mediocre performance, Dmitry Mendeleev was retained for the second year.
- Contrary to popular myth, he did not invent vodka. The myth arose due to his publication of a scientific work on the combination of water and alcohol, which had nothing to do with vodka as such. At the time of publication, vodka had been produced a long time ago.
- Mendeleev devoted about 30 years of his life to work at St. Petersburg University. He left its walls in protest when the Minister of Public Education refused to accept a student petition in which they demanded freedom of speech.
- In his youth, he once met Gogol (see).
- Mendeleev was married twice and had six children.
- Another myth about Mendeleev is that he saw his famous periodic table of elements in a dream. This myth originated during his lifetime, and when it was voiced to him, he was offended, saying that he had been thinking about this discovery for maybe twenty years, but they told him that everything was so simple - he saw it in a dream, and it was done.
- The great scientist was partial to classical music. He considered Beethoven his favorite composer (see).
- Mendeleev's nephew was his full namesake. Because of this, they were often confused.
- When compiling the periodic table, the scientist foresaw the characteristics of elements that had not yet been discovered at that time and left empty spaces for them in his table.
- Mendeleev loved to work with his hands. He was especially good at making suitcases. Even when he became completely blind in old age, he continued to work by touch.
- He was repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Prize, but never received it, most likely due to a conflict with the Nobel brothers related to the oil produced in Baku (see).
- In 1887, Mendeleev climbed alone in a balloon to a height of more than three kilometers to take a series of measurements. The flight lasted about three hours.
- Only about 10% of all Mendeleev's works are devoted to chemistry.
- The scientist wrote more than forty scientific papers on Arctic navigation and took an active part in the construction of the Ermak, the world's first Arctic icebreaker.
- Mendeleev's daughter subsequently married the poet Alexander Blok (see).
- The scientist discovered smokeless gunpowder for Russia on behalf of the authorities. Armed with public records, he found out how much and what kind of gunpowder ingredients the countries producing this product had imported over the past ten years. This allowed him to calculate the proportions and, after a series of experiments, achieve success.
- In 1885, Mendeleev presented his design for a hot air balloon with engines and a pressurized cabin that could rise into the upper atmosphere. The project was never implemented.
- It was he who first invented pipelines for pumping oil. Before that, it was transported in barrels and wineskins.
- The chemical element mendeleevium, discovered artificially in 1955, was named after the creator of the periodic table.
- Partly thanks to Mendeleev, women in Russia gained the opportunity to receive higher education. He was one of the first lecturers to teach courses for female students.
- In total, the great scientist published 431 scientific papers during his life.
- Throughout his life, Mendeleev often visited public baths.
- Mendeleev could not stand racism and the people who shared it.
- The scientist did not believe in medicine, preferring to be treated with folk remedies in case of illness. Fortunately, he was in good health, so he had no health problems, despite his obviously erroneous views on this matter.
On February 8, 1834, the Russian scientist Dmitry Mendeleev, who successfully worked in many fields of science, was born in Tobolsk. One of his most famous discoveries is the periodic law of chemical elements. AiF.ru offers readers a selection of interesting facts from life Dmitry Mendeleev.
Seventeenth child in the family
Dmitry Mendeleev was the seventeenth child in the family of Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev, who served as director of the Tobolsk gymnasium. At that time, a large family was atypical for the Russian intelligentsia; even in villages such families were rare. However, by the time of the birth of the future great scientist, two boys and five girls remained alive in the Mendeleev family, eight children died in infancy, and the parents did not even have time to give three of them a name.
Loser and gold medalist
Monument to Dmitry Mendeleev and his periodic table, located on the wall of the All-Russian Research Institute of Metrology. Mendeleev in St. Petersburg. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Heidas
At the gymnasium, Dmitry Mendeleev studied poorly, did not like Latin and the Law of God. While studying at the Main Pedagogical Institute of St. Petersburg, the future scientist stayed for the second year. Studying was not easy at first. In his first year at the institute, he managed to get unsatisfactory grades in all subjects except mathematics. And in mathematics, he only got “satisfactory”... But in his senior years, things went differently: Mendeleev’s average annual grade was 4.5 with only a C - according to the Law of God. Mendeleev graduated from the institute in 1855 with a gold medal and was appointed senior teacher at a gymnasium in Simferopol, but due to his health being undermined during his studies and the outbreak of the Crimean War, he transferred to Odessa, where he worked as a teacher at the Richelieu Lyceum.
Recognized master of suitcases
Mendeleev loved to bind books, glue frames for portraits, and also make suitcases. In St. Petersburg and Moscow he was known as the best suitcase maker in Russia. “From Mendeleev himself,” the merchants said. His products were solid and of high quality. The scientist studied all the glue preparation recipes known at that time and came up with his own special glue mixture. Mendeleev kept the method of its preparation secret.
Intelligence Scientist
Few people know that the famous scientist had to participate in industrial espionage. In 1890, Naval Minister Nikolai Chikhachev approached Dmitry Mendeleev and asked him to help him find the secret of making smokeless gunpowder. Since it was quite expensive to buy such gunpowder, the great chemist was asked to unravel the secret of production. Having accepted the request of the tsarist government, Mendeleev ordered from the library reports of the railways of Britain, France and Germany for 10 years. Based on them, he compiled a proportion of how much coal, saltpeter, etc. was brought to the gunpowder factories. A week after the proportions were made, he produced two smokeless powders for Russia. Thus, Dmitry Mendeleev managed to obtain secret data that he obtained from open reports.
Scales designed by D. I. Mendeleev for weighing gaseous and solid substances. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Serge Lachinov
“Russian standard” vodka was not invented by Mendeleev
Dmitry Mendeleev did not invent vodka. The ideal strength of 40 degrees and vodka itself were invented before 1865, when Mendeleev defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Discourse on the combination of alcohol with water.” There is not a word about vodka in his dissertation; it is devoted to the properties of mixtures of alcohol and water. In his work, the scientist established the proportions of the ratio of vodka and water at which a maximum reduction in the volume of mixed liquids occurs. This is a solution with an alcohol concentration of about 46% by weight. The ratio has nothing to do with 40 degrees. Forty-proof vodka appeared in Russia in 1843, when Dmitry Mendeleev was 9 years old. Then the Russian government, in the fight against diluted vodka, set a minimum threshold - vodka must have a strength of at least 40 degrees, an error of 2 degrees was allowed.
Russia bought Mendeleev's gunpowder from the Americans
In 1893, Dmitry Mendeleev launched the production of the smokeless gunpowder he invented, but the Russian government, then headed by Pyotr Stolypin, did not have time to patent it, and the invention was used overseas. In 1914, Russia bought several thousand tons of this gunpowder from the United States for gold. The Americans themselves, laughing, did not hide the fact that they were selling “Mendeleev’s gunpowder” to the Russians.
D. I. Mendeleev. An attempt at a chemical understanding of the world ether. St. Petersburg. 1905 Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Newnoname
Inventor of the balloon
On October 19, 1875, in a report at a meeting of the Physical Society at St. Petersburg University, Dmitry Mendeleev put forward the idea of a balloon with a pressurized gondola for studying the high-altitude layers of the atmosphere. The first installation option implied the possibility of rising into the upper atmosphere, but later the scientist designed a controlled balloon with engines. However, the scientist did not even have the money to build one high-altitude balloon. As a result, Mendeleev's proposal was never implemented. The world's first stratospheric balloon - this is how pressurized balloons designed for flight into the stratosphere (altitude more than 11 km) came to be called - made a flight only in 1931 from the German city of Augsburg.
Mendeleev came up with the idea of using a pipeline to pump oil
Dmitry Mendeleev created a scheme for fractional distillation of oil and formulated a theory of the inorganic origin of oil. He was the first to declare that burning oil in furnaces is a crime, since many chemical products can be obtained from it. He also suggested that oil enterprises transport oil not on carts or in wineskins, but in tanks, and that it be pumped through pipes. The scientist proved with figures how much more expedient it is to transport oil in bulk, and to build oil refining plants in places where petroleum products are consumed.
Three times Nobel Prize nominee
Dmitry Mendeleev was nominated for the Nobel Prize, awarded since 1901, three times - in 1905, 1906 and 1907. However, only foreigners nominated him. Members of the Imperial Academy of Sciences repeatedly rejected his candidacy by secret ballot. Mendeleev was a member of many foreign academies and scientific societies, but never became a member of his native Russian Academy.
Chemical element No. 101 bears the name of Mendeleev
The chemical element mendelevium is named after Mendeleev. Created artificially in 1955, the element was named after the chemist who pioneered the use of the periodic table of elements to predict the chemical properties of yet-to-be-discovered elements. In fact, Mendeleev was not the first to create the periodic table of the elements, nor was he the first to suggest the periodicity of the chemical properties of elements. Mendeleev's achievement was the determination of periodicity and, on its basis, the compilation of a table of elements. The scientist left empty cells for elements not yet discovered. As a result, using the periodicity table, it was possible to determine all the physical and chemical properties of the missing elements.
Made a great contribution to the world scientific school Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev. Merits in science truly huge. He not only studied issues related to chemistry, but also made discoveries and delved into physics and economics, solved problems of geology and meteorology, and became interested in aeronautics.
Certain actions allow us to conclude that in everyday life the Russian genius was a real gourmet. Mendeleev wrote three articles for the “Encyclopedic Dictionary” of Brockhaus and Efron: “dumplings”, “compote”, “jam”, signed with the Greek letter “delta”. This characterizes the inventor as a rather modest person, despite his achievements in the field of discoveries. Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev was involved in solving a wide range of problems. Merits in science were not limited to a certain direction. 
Doctoral dissertation, “On the combination of alcohol with water” , which Dmitry Ivanovich successfully defended before the scientific community, gave rise to many myths. This work was the starting point for the spread among the people of the opinion that the inventor of the national drink is a Russian inventor. There is not a single mention of a strong drink in the scientific work; it talks about the properties of mixtures of water and alcohol in various concentrations. Here experiments were carried out in the field of high alcohol proportions - from 70 degrees and above.
Interesting! The reason for writing the dissertation was chemical reaction that contradicts the laws of mathematics: when mixing 1 l. alcohol with 1 liter. water, 2 liters of solution (1+1=2) will not work. The fact is that a molecule of the resulting liquid will occupy a smaller volume than a molecule of water or alcohol separately.
The city on the Neva has a specific liquor museum. There is an inscription indicating that the scientist considered the ideal ratio of water and alcohol to be 38 degrees. However, the authorities decided that 40-proof vodka was a better option.
At the dawn of the twentieth century, horses were the main means of transport. So the London authorities made calculations, on the basis of which they made the disappointing conclusion that if the current rate of increase in horse-drawn transportation is maintained, the city's public services will not be able to cope with cleaning the streets. Based on the forecast results, England's capital will drown in horse manure, which will reach the third floor of the buildings.
The situation was not the best in the large cities of the Russian Empire. There were practically no cars, and the few that appeared on the roads were more of an element of luxury and did not compete with horses.
Back in 1850, the French made a forecast about the development of Paris for 100 years. Scientists have come to the conclusion that the main problem of the city will be increase in the number of horse-drawn transport due to projected population growth. Therefore, the main task of the authorities of the French capital will be the disposal of horse manure. 
In the middle of the 19th century, our Russian researcher dealt with the same problem. Based on his calculations, with the same rate of increase in the number of horses, not even a century will pass before the streets of large Russian cities will drown in manure. That's why scientist proposed industrial methods for processing and disposal of excrement.
But the scientists were wrong: their gloomy scenarios did not come true, as horses were replaced by automobile transport.
Several interesting episodes can be identified from the life and also from the biography of the scientist. So future inventor was the youngest child. He had 5 sisters and 2 brothers. Dmitry himself was the 17th child in the family. That is why he was his mother's favorite. It was not possible for him to see the rest of his brothers and sisters, since the rest of the children died in infancy.
Perhaps because Mendeleev as the youngest child more attention and care was given. It was easiest for him to show his natural abilities, unlike other guys. Dima already knew how to read at the age of 4 and greedily devoured books from his father’s library. Who, before he fell ill with cataracts, worked as a teacher in a gymnasium. This trouble happened in the year of Mitya’s birth, and all the worries about raising children fell on the mother’s shoulders. She, despite all the troubles in life, was able to teach all her children.
Having entered the university to become a teacher, the future scientist faced great difficulties in his studies, failed all subjects except mathematics and stayed in the second year. But, showing persistence and diligence, Dmitry Ivanovich was able to radically turn the situation around, graduating from the university with honors. 
The inventor was a jack of all trades. The scientist had a rare hobby - making suitcases. Due to the quality of the products, they were in great demand among traders, who sold them under the brand “from Mendeleev himself.” They served people for decades, and the scientist himself invented his own glue composition and kept his know-how secret from competitors.
Once Fleet Admiral Nikolai Chikhachev turned to the inventor for help. Smokeless gunpowder is what Russian sailors needed. After all, purchasing such an explosive from foreigners was an expensive pleasure. Who, if not Mendeleev, could help solve this problem. Having accepted the order from the tsarist government, Dmitry Ivanovich set to work with enthusiasm. He started by saying that studied reports on railway freight transportation in the library France, Germany, Britain over the last decade. Based on the information received, he made a calculation showing the amount of coal, saltpeter and other components delivered to the gunpowder factories. In this elementary way, the scientist solved the problem of deciphering the hidden materials that he extracted from the available information. 
This is interesting! When a genius was offered to head a laboratory for the research of gunpowder with a decent amount of money at that time salary of about 30 thousand per year(in those distant times, a simple village house cost about 100 rubles, and a city dwelling from 500 to 5000 rubles), the great chemist refused to work for such a sum. Explaining it this way: “30 thousand is bondage, and 2000 is ugh! I want to and I will leave. I’ll take the job if you pay me 2000.”
In fact, this is what happened: Mendeleev quickly left the laboratory. At the same time, it was not difficult for him to invent smokeless gunpowder in the shortest possible time. This gunpowder was superior in quality to all analogues existing at that time. As always, Russian officials were slow in registering the invention, which the Americans took advantage of. They bought the patent and started producing this gunpowder in the States. And the tsarist government later had to buy their own explosives from them.
Once, when a scientist was asked how long a table of chemical elements took him, the scientist cut short: “I’ve been thinking about it for maybe 20 years, but you think: I sat there and suddenly... it’s done.”
Many scientists were involved in the development of similar tables, but no one managed to combine all the elements into a system. Almost simultaneously, similar studies were conducted German scientist Meyer. However, the version proposed by our genius received scientific recognition, thanks to the audacity and eloquence of the author in proving his system. In the development of his method, he moved one step higher than his competitors. 
The contribution to science of Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev is truly great. He is the owner of more than a hundred different titles and titles. The inventor was an honorary member of many educational institutions and scientific societies. He signed his works simply. For example, "D. Mendeleev" or "Professor Mendeleev", practically without mentioning any honorary title awarded to him. The inventor did not recognize scientific titles, titles, being skeptical about them. In those days, in universities, students were examined in alphabetical order. One day a student approached the examiner and introduced himself: “Prince Vasilchikov.” “I accept students starting with the letter “K” tomorrow,” the scientist said with irritation. 
And in conclusion, we note that Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev left very important achievements in science. Do you think so? Leave your opinion or feedback for everyone on the forum.
1. Seventeenth child in the family
Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev was born on February 8, 1834 in Tobolsk - the first capital of the Siberian region. He was the last in the family - the seventeenth child. The family, however, was not so large: out of 17 children, eight died in infancy.
Dmitry's father, Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev, held the honorary position of director of the Tobolsk gymnasium. He died when Dmitry was 13 years old, so his mother, Maria Dmitrievna, had to support a large family, who made a lot of efforts to ensure that her children received a decent education. Thanks to her, Dmitry was able to enter the Main Pedagogical Institute (now St. Petersburg State University).
2. Unruly teacher
Dmitry Mendeleev had impressive teaching experience. He worked as a senior teacher of natural sciences at the Simferopol Men's Gymnasium (1855) and the Richelieu Lyceum in Odessa (1855-56), and from 1857 he began teaching at the Imperial St. Petersburg University, where he worked for a total of about 30 years. However, due to a conflict with the Minister of Public Education Ivan Delyanov, Mendeleev left the university in 1890. The cause of the conflict was the minister's refusal to accept the students' petition. Relatives and friends remember Dmitry Ivanovich as a persistent person who did not want to give in. This happened in the case of the petition. Mendeleev enjoyed enormous authority among students. When student unrest began at the university in March 1890, he was invited to one of the discussions and asked to submit a petition to the Government in which the students outlined their wishes, which included, in particular, freedom of speech and the press. Dmitry Ivanovich reacted radically to Delyanov’s refusal. He concluded his last lecture, which the scientist gave on March 22, 1890, with the words: “I humbly ask you not to accompany my departure with applause for many different reasons.”
3. “Inventor” of vodka
There is an opinion that Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev invented vodka. However, this alcoholic drink, of course, existed long before 1865, when he defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Discourse on the combination of alcohol with water.” It was this work that gave rise to the legend according to which he “took part in the development of vodka production.” In his book “National Legend: Was Mendeleev the creator of Russian “monopoly” vodka,” Doctor of Chemical Sciences and director of the museum-archive D.I. Mendeleev at Leningrad State University Igor Sergeevich Dmitriev refutes this fact. In particular, he states that “the dissertation was devoted to the study of the specific gravities of alcohol-water solutions depending on the concentration of the latter and temperature, and Mendeleev himself was primarily interested in completely different concentration areas, above 40% by weight.”
4. About a dream that never happened
There is an opinion that once in a dream Mendeleev saw the periodic table of chemical elements, after which he invented it. However, the scientist refuted this legend, answering the following: “I’ve been thinking about it for maybe twenty years, but you think: I was sitting and suddenly... it’s ready.” By the way, the discovery of the periodic law occurred in February 1869. On February 17, Dmitry Mendeleev, getting ready for the trip, drew a sketch of a table on the back of an inconspicuous letter in which he was invited to come and help production. The scientist would later say that then “the idea involuntarily arose that there should be a connection between mass and chemical properties.” So, he wrote on separate cards the names of all known elements, their atomic weight and properties, and then arranged them in order. The trip had to be postponed - the scientist plunged headlong into work, as a result of which the periodic law of chemical elements was discovered. It is worth noting that at that time about 60 chemical elements had been studied, and over thirty were still awaiting their time. In 1870, Mendeleev calculated the atomic masses of elements that remained “empty” unexplored places in his table. Thus, scientists predicted the existence of “ekaaluminum” (gallium), “ecaboron” (scandium), “ekasilicon” (germanium) and other elements.
5. Suitcase master
The great scientist was engaged not only in scientific work. In his free time, he liked to make... suitcases. Mendeleev mastered this craft in Simferopol, when the gymnasium where he taught was closed due to the Crimean War. The scientist did not like to sit idle, so he found himself an exciting hobby: he began binding books and gluing together all sorts of improvised objects, such as frames and tables. He especially liked to tinker with travel bags. So Mendeleev got an interesting hobby - making suitcases, which he brought to perfection. Even when the scientist went blind in 1895, he continued to glue suitcases by touch. Once, during another leather purchase, one buyer asked the merchant who this man was, to which he received the answer: “This is the famous, famous suitcase master Mendeleev!”
6. Not a Nobel laureate
Dmitri Mendeleev was nominated for the Nobel Prize several times, but never received it. The first time this happened was in 1905. Then the German organic chemist Adolf Bayer became the laureate. A year later, the scientist was declared the winner of the prize, but the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences overturned this decision in favor of the French scientist Henri Moissan for the discovery of fluorine. In 1907, there was a proposal to share the prize with the Italian chemist Stanislao Cannizzaro, but this time fate intervened. On February 2, 1907, at the age of 72, Mendeleev passed away. Perhaps the reason why the scientist never won the long-awaited prize was the conflict between Dmitry Ivanovich and the Nobel brothers. By the end of the 19th century, enterprising Swedes became rich from Baku oil and began to control more than 13% of Russian fields. In 1886, when the price of oil fell sharply, the Nobel brothers proposed that the government raise the tax, arguing that the field was rapidly depleting. Thus, a price increase of 15 kopecks per pound of oil ensured that they got rid of their competitors. A special commission was formed under the Ministry of State Property, which included Mendeleev. The scientist was opposed to the introduction of the tax and denied the rumor about the depletion of oil, which angered the Nobels.
7. Balloon flights
Dmitry Mendeleev also worked on the design of aircraft, with the help of which he planned to study the temperature, pressure and humidity in the upper layers of the atmosphere. In 1875, he proposed a design for a stratospheric balloon with a volume of 3600 m³. He also developed a project for a controlled balloon with engines. In 1878, the scientist flew in Henri Giffard's tethered balloon at the World Exhibition in Paris. After 9 years he took off again. This time, a vacant lot in the north-west of the city of Klin was chosen as the site for the experiment. On August 7, 1887, in a “Russian” balloon (volume 700 m³) provided by the War Ministry, Mendeleev alone rose to a height of more than 3000 meters. The flight lasted three hours. During this time, the scientist measured pressure and temperature, and also witnessed a total solar eclipse. This flight was awarded a medal from the French Academy of Aerostatic Meteorology.
8. Pioneer of icebreaking
It is interesting that of the total number of works, the scientist devoted about 10% to chemistry. Among other things, Mendeleev paid attention to shipbuilding and the development of Arctic navigation, about which he wrote about 40 works. He was directly involved in the project to build the world's first Arctic icebreaker, Ermak, which was first launched on October 29, 1898. For his great contribution to the development of the Arctic, an underwater ridge in the Arctic Ocean, discovered in 1949, was named after the scientist.
9. Blok's father-in-law
Mendeleev said that he “experienced a lot in life, but knows nothing better than children.” People who knew him said that he often treated the children of the guards at the House of Weights and Measures, where he worked, with sweets, and also arranged a New Year tree for them at his own expense. Dmitry Ivanovich was the father of six children: two were born from his first marriage with Feozva Leshcheva, four from his second marriage to Anna Popova.
The eldest son Vladimir was a naval officer. He was lucky enough to sail on the frigate “Memory of Azov”, on which Nicholas II was supposed to go on a trip to the Far East. After his wedding to the daughter of the Itinerant artist Varvara Kirillovna Lemokh, he died suddenly. It is known about the eldest daughter Olga that she bred purebred hunting dogs, and after the revolution she was forced to move to Moscow, where, under the patronage of Dzerzhinsky, she worked as a consultant for a service dog kennel. Her younger sister Maria Dmitrievna Kuzmina also worked with dogs, but after the war she became the head of her father’s museum at Leningrad State University. The fate of Lyuba’s daughter was interesting. She worked as an artist in Meyerhold's troupe and married Alexander Blok. Ivan followed in his father’s footsteps and worked at the Institute of Metrology. But the fate of Vasily’s youngest son was very mysterious. He studied at the shipbuilding department of the Kronstadt Naval Engineering School, but never completed his studies. They say that Vasily went against his parents' will by marrying the common people Fenya, after which he left home. Nothing was heard about him for a long time, but later it turned out that he died in 1922 in Krasnodar, having contracted typhoid fever from his wife.
His portrait always hangs in every chemistry classroom, and yet, the only thing we know about Dmitry Mendeleev for sure is that the scientist dreamed of a table of chemical elements (those in the know know that the chemist invented vodka). In fact, both of these are not entirely true. What else did we not know about Mendeleev? Chemist's Day, coming up on the last Sunday in May, is an excellent opportunity to increase your erudition in this matter.
Seventeenth child in the family
Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev was born in 1834 in Tobolsk. Nowadays, a family with three children is considered large. If we are talking about four people, we already roll our eyes in admiration - a lot, a lot. The future scientist, chemist, physicist, inventor was born seventeenth. The family, however, was not that big. As often happened in villages and county towns, eight children died in infancy. Dmitry's father, the director of the Tobolsk gymnasium, died early, and therefore the mother had to raise her offspring, who, it must be said, made every possible effort to ensure that each of her children had a decent education. It was thanks to Maria Dmitrievna that Mitya Mendeleev got the opportunity to enter the Main Pedagogical Institute (now St. Petersburg State University).
Official "author" of vodka
One of the most common legends that ordinary people associate with the name of the scientist says: Dmitry Mendeleev invented vodka. Actually this is not true. Yes, indeed, Mendeleev was the first to “officially” talk about the strong drink. He defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Discourse on the combination of alcohol with water.” It was this work that gave rise to the myth according to which Mendeleev “took part in the development of vodka production.” In reality, vodka in one form or another existed before; moreover, the chemist absolutely did not set himself the task of telling the world about a drink that is not only not useful for the body, but even harmful to it (in large quantities). Historians studying the biography of Dmitry Mendeleev claim: the dissertation was devoted to the study of the specific gravities of alcohol-water solutions depending on the concentration of the latter and temperature, and Mendeleev himself was primarily interested in completely different problems, but certainly not in promoting alcohol to the masses.
The dream that never happened
The first thing they tell us as soon as we get to our first chemistry lesson (and some are lucky even earlier) is about the famous periodic table, which he supposedly dreamed about. Firstly, for a person far from chemistry this fact is not at all exciting, and secondly, the legend is destined to remain a legend. The fact is that rumors around Mendeleev’s invention began to circulate during his lifetime, namely, as soon as the table was published, the admiring public immediately attributed non-existent feats to the chemist. They say that when the gossip reached Dmitry Mendeleev himself, he was even offended: “I’ve been thinking about it for maybe twenty years, but you think: I dozed off and suddenly... it’s done.”
Unusual hobby
In his free time from inventions, Dmitry Mendeleev likes to do a very unexpected thing, namely, a chemist, an outstanding scientist, practically a genius of his time, in his spare time he made a living by making... suitcases. Mendeleev mastered this craft in Simferopol, when the gymnasium where he taught was closed due to the Crimean War. In an attempt to earn a living, Mendeleev began binding books and gluing frames, but he was especially attracted to travel bags. He, like all the others, brought this skill to perfection. Even when the scientist went blind in 1895, he continued to glue suitcases by touch. Once, during another leather purchase, one buyer asked the merchant who this man was, to which he received the answer: “This is the famous, famous suitcase master Mendeleev!”
Not only chemistry
Mendeleev can easily be called a jack of all trades. It turns out that, in addition to chemistry and physics, the scientist was involved in the design of aircraft for many years. With their help, he planned to study the temperature, pressure and humidity in the upper atmosphere. Mendeleev more than once took to the air on a variety of flight devices, starting with airships and ending with machines that did not bear a specific name (which is noteworthy: always successfully).
To be frank, Mendeleev devoted no more than 10% of his work to chemistry throughout his life. Among other things, the scientist paid close attention to shipbuilding and the development of Arctic navigation, about which he wrote about 40 works. Moreover, the chemist was directly involved in the construction of the world's first Arctic icebreaker, Ermak, which was first launched on October 29, 1898. For such an invaluable contribution to the development of domestic shipbuilding, as well as for the exploration of the Arctic, one of the underwater ridges of the Arctic Ocean was named in honor of Mendeleev.
Scout - second profession
In addition to creating “designer” suitcases, Mendeleev also mastered another non-trivial profession in his spare time. The scientist has mastered all the intricacies of industrial espionage. Naval Minister Nikolai Chikhachev approached Dmitry Mendeleev and asked him to help him find the secret of making smokeless gunpowder. Since it was quite expensive to buy such gunpowder, the great chemist was asked to unravel the secret of production. After some time, through secret research, the chemist managed to figure out the “recipe”, and soon he was able to present the required material to the customers.
Smokeless powder for Americans
After magic gunpowder was invented, Mendeleev set up its production, but the Russian government, then headed by Pyotr Stolypin, did not have time to patent it, and the invention was used overseas. In 1914, Russia bought several thousand tons of this gunpowder from the United States for gold. The Americans' delight knew no bounds - of course, sell their own creation to the Russians! One could only dream of such success.
Leonora, or the love of music
Among other things, Mendeleev was a passionate admirer of classical music. He had a special love for the works of Beethoven. Over and over again, the scientist listened to the overture from the great composer’s opera “Leonora,” for which he was immediately rewarded with the nickname Leonora. The composer Borodin, who was probably upset that Mendeleev listened not to his works, but to German ones, more than once ended his letters to his comrade like this: “Farewell, Leonora.”
Mendeleev is a relative of the poet Alexander Blok
Alexander Blok and Lyubov Mendeleeva
True, not by blood, but only “by passport”. Mendeleev saw life in children. From two marriages he had six children, all of whom achieved success to one degree or another, but the fate of his daughter Lyuba turned out to be especially interesting. She worked as an artist in several provincial theaters, but did not reach great heights. But it turned the head of the bright representative of the Silver Age in literature - Alexander Blok. As a girl, Lyuba was flighty and fickle; having one man seemed boring to her, and therefore, in order not to disappear into routine, she also charmed Andrei Bely. True, Lyubov Mendeleeva did marry Blok.
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