Dmitri Mendeleev

Mendeleev married Feozna Nikitchna Lascheva on 27 April 1862. The marriage lasted for nearly 20 years before the couple divorced in 1882. He had two children from this marriage: son Vladimir and daughter Olga.

In 1882 Mendeleev married Anna Ivanova Popova and this union resulted in four children.

He passed away on February 2, 1907. His funeral was in St. Petersburg and many people brought along copies of the Periodic Table as tribute to his contributions to science.

Dmitri Mendeleev was born on February 8, 1834, in Verkhnie, Aremzyani, a small Russian province. The exact number is unknown, but it is believed that he had at least 16 brothers and sisters.

His childhood was marked by tragedy when his father, Ivan Mendeleyev, began having health problems. He passed away in 1847 leaving Dmitri’s mother to work at a glass factory to support the family.

Tragedy struck again in 1848 when the glass factory his mother managed burned down. The family was forced to move to St. Petersburg.

In 1855 Mendeleev was diagnosed with tuberculosis, but he continued to pursue his education to become a teacher. He graduated from the Main Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg.

In 1855, Mendeleev became a science teacher in Crimea. He soon decided to move back to St. Petersburg and continue his education. A year later he completed his Masters degree in Chemistry.

He became a professor at the University of St. Petersburg. He realized the great need for an organized and quality chemistry textbook, so he began to research and work on one of his own.

In 1861, he released ‘Organic Chemistry’, a 500 page textbook. The book went on to win the Domidov Prize and push Mendeleev to fame in the scientific community.

In 1867, he was honored with the Chair of General Chemistry at the University of Saint Petersburg. He used his position to push Russia to improve and focus on their understanding of chemistry.

In 1869, Mendeleev came out another major book, ‘The Principles of Chemistry’. The book became so popular that it was translated to French, German, and English.

Mendeleev released the periodic table in 1869. His revolutionary organization of the elements correctly assumed that some of the elements had their atomic weights measured incorrectly and that eight new elements existed. As new elements were found and his theories were further proven correct, his scientific reputation was enhanced even more.