There are few individuals who do not know who Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov is. The famous Russian scientist made contributions to numerous disciplines of research and took it to a whole new level. He was the first in Russia to create a chemical laboratory, published literary and historical works, and enhanced the Russian language.
Childhood and youth
Lomonosov’s biography is like the enigma of the Sphinx: the name of the scientist is surrounded not only by an atmosphere of mystery, but also by conjecture and tales. For example, some legends suggest that the Russian genius was born into a destitute family that could barely make ends meet, and then, as if pulled by an unknown power, he moved to the very heart of Russia.
Lomonosov was born on November 8 (19), 1711 in the village of Mishaninskaya, Arkhangelskaya Governorate (today the settlement of Lomonosovo, Arkhangelsk Region). He was the only kid of a wealthy family of the peasant Vasily Dorofeevich, who was recognized as a trader and traded fish on his own ships.
According to the memoirs of Mikhail Vasilyevich, his father was a decent man, but exceedingly uneducated. When the bright youngster was nine years old, his mother Elena Ivanovna died. After the loss of his wife, Vasily Dorofeevich strove to establish happiness with Feodora Mikhailovna Uskova. But she experienced the same fate: Theodora died in 1724, three years after her marriage.
In the year 1724, Lomonosov Sr. married for the third time to the widowed Irina Semenovna Korelskaya, who appeared to 13-year-old Mikhail in the character of an evil stepmother, destroying the life of her little stepson.
From the age of 10, Mikhail helped Vasily Dorofeevich fish. Father and son took their nets and went off toward the White Sea. The future scientist enjoyed to swim over the infinite expanses of water, appreciating the blue of the sea waves, the majesty of the blue ice and the receding beach. And all the perils experienced along the route improved the young man’s physical strength. Lomonosov’s varied observations nourished his intellect with ideas on the organization of nature.
Mikhail committed the early portion of his youth to literacy in everyday life, gained many important abilities, increased his physical strength, and began to study reading and writing as a teenager, at the age of 12. His first instructor was Ivan Shubny, the father of the artist Fedot Shubin (Shubny). Mikhailo Lomonosov progressed to the next level owing to clerk Semyon Sabelnikov, who taught him arithmetic, grammar, and also exposed him to the magnificent world of literature. As a 14-year-old boy, Mikhail read well, so he pored over textbooks day and night. He feverishly read one book after another, striving to add new facts to his knowledge base.
Many people remember the tradition from school that Mikhail Vasilyevich, thirsting for fresh discoveries, walked on foot to Moscow to receive a solid education. The motivation for such a brave endeavor was an awful living in his house, mainly constant arguments with Irina Semyonovna.
The stepmother did not appreciate that her stepson spent all his leisure time leafing through books. By that time, Mikhail knew that a substantial gap in knowledge – a lack of grasp of Latin – would become a hindrance to future study, and he dreamt of filling it in one of the large cities. Vasily Dorofeevich, trying to discourage his son, resolved to marry him and covertly sought for a woman. Having learnt about this notion, Lomonosov employed a trick: he went to bed and feigned to be unwell, so the wedding had to be postponed until he “recovered.”
Burdened with the challenges of life, Mikhail grabbed his possessions (two shirts, a sheepskin coat and numerous books), waited until midnight and, without saying goodbye to either his stepmother or his father, discreetly fled away from home. On the third day of the voyage on foot, in December 1730, the 19-year-old youngster caught up with the caravan and begged the fisherman for permission to go on a lengthy journey with them. After three weeks of roaming through snowdrifts, in January 1731, he landed at Moscow. He had to travel more than a thousand kilometers from his native hamlet to the center of Russia.
The young guy wished to become a student at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. To carry out his scheme, he faked documents and for a period became for the rectorate a descendant of a Kholmogory nobleman.
Mikhail Vasilyevich assiduously studied the Latin language, theology texts, science and mathematics. According to the scientist’s memory, some students made fun of him at the academy: he dressed badly (he was pleased with one altyn a day) and was older than others. In the first year, Mikhail moved from first to third grade. at 1735, he was enrolled at the university at the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, where he studied mathematics, physics and tried to write poetry.
A year later, in March, Lomonosov and 12 other capable university students were sent to study in Europe by resolution of the Academy of Sciences. They remained overseas for five years and regularly met issues. The educational institution delayed sending money, thus many students had to live in debt. Initially, Mikhail Vasilyevich studied at Marburg, then proceeded to Freiberg (Germany).
There he met Johann Friedrich Henkel, who taught him metallurgy and mining. In 1739, a quarrel erupted between Mikhail Vasilyevich and Genkel. The stumbling point was the young scientist’s unwillingness to undertake the hard labor. The tension between the teacher and the pupils escalated at the speed of light, to the point where the teacher refused to give the students money for upkeep. In 1740, Mikhail Vasilyevich, bringing laboratory scales and weights, departed Freiberg once and for all.
However, he returned to Russia with a decent amount of knowledge, which, in addition to understanding about the mining business, covered French, Italian and German languages, dance and fencing.
Literature
Mikhail Vasilyevich was a superb scholar in any discipline, whether it scientific occurrences, chemical changes, or a combination of words in a poem.
Moreover, renowned poets such as Alexander Pushkin and Vasily Zhukovsky eventually depended on his writings , and “Ode on the Day of the Accession to the All-Russian Throne of Her Majesty Empress Elisaveta Petrovna, Autocrat of All Russia, 1746” is an irrefutable classic of Russian literature.
He dedicated a heroic poem called “Peter the Great” to Peter I , whom Mikhail Vasilyevich deeply adored.
Lomonosov’s biggest contribution to literature was his translations of ancient Greek and Roman poets. In addition, the author composed satirical pieces, criticizing the church. This and other elements contributed to affect the critical appraisal of Mikhail Vasilyevich’s work by some of his contemporaries. However, the scientist was admonished, as a norm, in a disguised manner, and Lomonosov’s youthful followers fervently stuck up for him, even if he committed mistakes.
Scientific discoveries of Mikhail Lomonosov
It is generally documented that Mikhail Vasilyevich began to study science seriously around 1737–1738. Proof of the young student’s success in grasping the natural and precise sciences was his debut paper, which is named “On the transformation of a solid into a liquid depending on the movement of the preceding liquid.” It analyzes several phases of aggregation. And for his dissertation “On Metallic Luster” Lomonosov was given a professorship in 1745. After acquiring a title in science, he became a nobleman.
It is worth emphasizing that the results achieved during the scientist’s chemical and physical tests were differentiated by their correctness. Mikhail Vasilyevich was practically not erroneous in his conclusions. His scientific contributions helped his contemporaries shift from natural philosophy to the modern methodologies of natural science. He created the basis of the kinetic theory of gases, discovered the law of conservation of energy, answered the riddle of thunderstorms and the northern lights, manufactured colorful glass and paints, and exposed ore to chemical analysis. It was he who came up with the principles of physical chemistry.
Lomonosov, embracing the works of Nicolaus Copernicus on space, studied astronomy. A clever scientist discovered the atmosphere on Venus and improved a reflecting telescope (Lomonosov-Herschel system). He also became one of the earliest slaves of science who recognized that the star called the Sun is a giant ball of fire, as “there are fiery shafts rushing, fiery whirlwinds spinning, and stones boil like water.”
Among other things, Lomonosov brought new ideas into the Russian language (“horizon”, “refraction of rays”, “atom”, “molecule”, “temperature”, etc.), giving it a scientific flavor, because before technical terms were indicated by Latin words.
Mikhail Vasilyevich became the foundation of Moscow University in 1755, although his contemporaries named him the university.
One day, a scientist addressed a letter to his buddy Alexander Shuvalov , who was a confidant of Elizabeth Petrovna and a favorite of Peter III . In it, Mikhail Vasilyevich emphasized the preservation and multiplication of the Russian people. But even such an erudite individual as Alexander Ivanovich opted to put Lomonosov’s message beneath the carpet, hiding it from the public sight.
Personal life
In the fall of 1736, Lomonosov began renting a room from the widow of a Marburg brewer. Her 19-year-old daughter Elizaveta Tsilkh also resided there, who captivated the student with her characteristics as a decent housekeeper and directness of her ideas. Mikhail understood love as bringing fortune for his chosen one. But in truth, for a long time he did not grasp how to articulate it. The young individuals gazed intently at each other for two years before expressing their thoughts. They married in February 1739, and were wedded on May 26, 1740. The scientist’s first daughter was born in November 1739 and was regarded illegitimate since the legal marriage was not approved by the church. The girl died in 1743.
On January 1, 1742, Elizabeth, separated from her husband, gave birth to a child, Johannes. Lomonosov at this time traveled for St. Petersburg and prepared for the arrival of his wife. The son survived just a month.
In 1749, Elizabeth and Mikhail became parents for the third time. Daughter Elena, named after the scientist’s mother, whom he greatly loved and lost in youth, grew up endowed to equal her father. The girl learned numerous languages, studied music, literature, and sciences. The Lomonosov family, who loved to host guests, was dubbed joyful and hospitable.
Elena managed her personal life immediately following her father’s death, although she survived only 23 years. However, her marriage with Lomonosov’s pupil produced four children.
Death of Mikhail Lomonosov
The eminent Russian scientist died on April 4 (15), 1765 during the 54th year of his life.
The cause of death was pneumonia. Mikhail Vasilyevich’s burial is located at the Lazarevskoye cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.
Lomonosov’s last endeavor was a mosaic project, the continuation of which he donated to his wife’s brother and students.
Memory
The next year after the death of the servant of knowledge, the book he had envisioned in two volumes, “Ancient Russian History from the Beginning of the Russian People to the Death of the Grand Duke Yaroslav the First or until 1054,” was released. Lomonosov did not have time to compose the second volume.
It is known that after Mikhail Vasilyevich died, Grigory Orlov , under the instructions of Catherine II, sealed his surviving papers. Later, the library and the scientist’s papers were relocated to the palace, and then their trace was gone.
Descendants assess Lomonosov’s looks from his photographs. Contemporaries of the founder of Moscow University noticed with laughter that, while enormous in appearance, he least of all resembled a scientist.Now the researcher is known as an excellent personality in the field of science. Monuments honoring him have been constructed in many nations, several educational institutions and prizes carry his name. Streets, space objects, a city and a mineral are named in honor of Lomonosov.