The embodiment of Russian science. Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov

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“Combining extraordinary willpower with extraordinary power of concept, Lomonosov embraced all branches of education. Thirst for science was the strongest passion of this soul. Historian, orator, mechanic, chemist, mineralogist, artist and poet, he experienced everything and penetrated everything. ”
A.S. Pushkin about M.V. Lomonosov


Mikhail Vasilyevich was born 19 in November 1711 in the village of Mishaninskoy, located in the Arkhangelsk city. The boy’s mother, Deacon’s daughter Elena Ivanovna Sivkova, died when Michael was nine years old. His father, Vasily Dorofeevich Lomonosov, was a black farmer peasant and was engaged in maritime industry. Thanks to hard work, Vasiliy Dorofeevich became the most wealthy fisherman in the area and was the first among the inhabitants of the region to build and equip a galliot called “The Seagull”. In the distant voyages that reached the Solovetsky Islands and the Kola Peninsula, the father constantly took his only heir Michael. However, the boy was more attracted to something else. At the age of ten, he began to master the letter, and the mysterious book world attracted him to him with a magnet. Of particular interest to the boy called neighbor Christopher Dudin, who had his own small library. Lomonosov often begged him to lend him a book for the time, but he was always rejected. In the summer of 1724, Dudin died, having bequeathed three volumes to an inquisitive guy: Magnitsky's arithmetic, Smotritsky's grammar and Simeon Polotsky's Rhymed Hymnal.

With great enthusiasm, Mikhail Lomonosov began to comprehend the wisdom of books, which led to a serious quarrel with his father, who wanted to see his son a continuer of the work he had begun. The conflict in every possible way heated up the second stepmother Irina Semenovna. According to Lomonosov’s memoirs, she “tried in every way to produce anger in her father, imagining that I was sitting behind empty books. For this, I was often forced to read in places of solitude, suffering hunger and cold. ” For two years, the young man led an acquaintance with the dissenters, bespopovtsami, but the Old Believers folios of religious content could not quench the thirst for knowledge of Lomonosov. Finally, in the 1730 year, having celebrated his nineteenth birthday, Mikhail decided to take a desperate act - without asking his father for permission and borrowing three rubles from his neighbors, he went to Moscow.

Upon arrival in an unfamiliar city, the young man found himself in an unenviable position. Fortunately, for the first time he was sheltered by one of his fellow countrymen who settled in Moscow. Among other things, the peasants led the acquaintance with the monks of the Zaikonospassky monastery, within whose walls the Slavonic-Latin Academy worked - one of the first higher educational institutions in Russia. They taught Latin, French and German, history, geography, philosophy, physics and even medicine. However, there was one serious obstacle for admission: peasant children were not taken. Then, without thinking twice, Lomonosov called himself the son of a major Kholmogorsky nobleman and was enrolled in the lower class of the academy. Mostly only teenagers were trained there. At first, they were making fun of a large young man who came to “learn latin” at the age of twenty. However, the jokes soon subsided - the “Kholmogory peasant” managed to master three quarters of the course during one (1731) year, which usually took from four to six years. Further studies were given to Mikhail Vasilyevich somewhat more complicated, but he still overcame every next level in six months, instead of the one and a half years required by the overwhelming majority of scholars. From a material point of view, it was extremely difficult for him to study. The annual scholarship did not exceed ten rubles (or less than three kopecks per day), which doomed the young man to a half-starved existence. However, he did not want to confess to his father. In the summer of 1735, when Lomonosov moved to the upper class, the head of the Spassky School was instructed to send the twelve best students to the Academy of Sciences. Mikhail Vasilyevich, who found out about this, immediately filed a petition, and at the end of December of the same year, among other elected representatives, he left for St. Petersburg.

Students arriving from Moscow in January 1736 were enrolled in the staff of the Academy of Sciences. They did not receive any salary, but they were entitled to free accommodation and meals. The classes started were led by professor Georg Kraft and associate Vasily Adadurov. The Muscovites studied experimental physics, mathematics, rhetoric, and many other subjects. All lectures were held in Latin - this dead language in the eighteenth century remained the language of science. Kraft, by the way, was a wonderful teacher. During the lessons, he liked to demonstrate physical experiments to the audience, having a great influence on the young Lomonosov in this regard.

It is curious that the famous case of admission to the Slavic-Latin Academy, when Lomonosov concealed his true origin, was not one of a kind. In 1734, the cartographer Ivan Kirilov, going to the Kazakh steppes, decided to take a priest in a campaign. Having learned about this, Mikhail Vasilievich expressed a desire to be ordained, stating under oath that his father was pop. However, this time the information received was checked. When the deception was revealed, there was a threat of excluding the student who had lied and punished him, up to the tonsure as a monk. It came to the vice-president of the Synod, Feofan Prokopovich, who, to the surprise of many, stood up for Lomonosov, saying that the peasant son, who had shown such extraordinary abilities, should be able to complete his studies without hindrance. Nevertheless, studies at the university did not last long for Mikhail Vasilyevich. In the spring of 1736, Johann Korf, the then president of the Academy of Sciences, obtained permission from the cabinet to send several students abroad to study chemistry, mining and metallurgy. The demands made to the students were so high that only three were selected: “Popovich from Suzdal Dmitry Vinogradov; the son of the adviser to the Berg College of Gustav Raiser and the peasant son of Mikhail Lomonosov. ” In mid-September, the students, having received detailed instructions about behavior abroad and three hundred rubles for lifting, set sail for Germany.

Envoys from Russia arrived in Marburg in early November 1736. Their student was appointed curator of the great Leibniz, the greatest scientist of his time, Professor Christian Wolf. It was to him that the Russian Academy of Sciences sent money to study and maintain seconded students. According to Lomonosov’s notes, the daily routine during his studies in Marburg was very tense - besides his studies at the university, which continued from 9 to 17, he took lessons in fencing, dancing and French. The German scientist, by the way, highly appreciated the talents of his student: “Mikhail Lomonosov has excellent abilities, diligently attends my lectures and tries to acquire solid knowledge. With such diligence, when he returns to his fatherland, he can bring the state considerable benefits, which I sincerely wish. ”

In Marburg, Mikhail Vasilyevich met his love. With all the strength of a seething character, he became interested in Elizabeth Christina Tsilh - the daughter of the mistress of the house in which he lived. They got married to 1739 in February, but already in July, the newly-born spouse left the wife who was expecting a child, and went to continue studying in Freiberg. Training in the largest center of metallurgical and mining industry in Germany was the second stage of the program developed by the Academy of Sciences. The leadership of the students from Russia was entrusted in this place to sixty-year-old professor Johann Genkel, who had long ceased to follow the course of scientific thought. In this regard, Lomonosov very soon entered into a conflict with his mentor. In addition to the scientific inconsistency of Genkel, Mikhail Vasilyevich believed that he would pocket some of the money received for the maintenance of Russian students. Finally, in May, Lomonosov 1740 left Freiberg without the permission of the Academy and went to Dresden, and then to Holland. After a couple of months of independent travel, he stopped at the house of his wife, who gave birth to his daughter, named Ekaterina Elizaveta. Having established a connection with the Academy of Sciences, the young scientist asked to continue his education and visit other mining enterprises and scientific centers of Europe, but received an order to return to his homeland.

In June, 1741 Mikhail Vasilyevich arrived in St. Petersburg. A promising young scientist who received high reviews not only from Wolf, but also from foe Johann Genkel, rightly expected the place of an extraordinary professor, promised before leaving for Germany to him and his comrades. However, much has changed in the past tense in Russia. Baron Korf resigned as president of the Academy of Sciences, and the role of Johann Schumacher, the former first adviser to the chancellery, has sharply increased. For eight long months, Schumacher kept Lomonosov as a student. Every day a scientist, tormented by acute lack of money, meekly carried out the routine tasks given to him. He translated works of foreign scientists, composed odes on solemn occasions, described mineralogical collections. Only in January, 1742, after Mikhail Vasilyevich sent to the name of the new Empress Elizaveta Petrovna a petition for awarding him the promised rank, the case was set in motion. However, the young scientist did not become a professor; in May, he was appointed adjunct to physics.



There is nothing surprising that soon Lomonosov became one of the associates of Andrei Nartov - the second adviser to the academic department, who filed a number of complaints at the beginning of 1742 with Johann Schumacher’s numerous abuses. The investigation began in the autumn of the same year, and already in October, the all-powerful temporary worker was arrested. After the investigative commission found out that Schumacher’s people were carrying out a bundle of documents from the office at night, it was sealed. Nartov, who proved himself, by the way, no less despotic, ordered Mikhail Vasilyevich to supervise the issue of the necessary materials to the academicians. Very soon, scientists filed a complaint with the investigative commission, in which they reported that because of Lomonosov’s adjunct, who was engaged in “examining the seals,” they could not receive the books and papers they needed, and, thus, “continue their business”. After that, members of the academic meeting forbade Mikhail Vasilyevich to work together with them, which was equivalent to his dismissal from science.

This announcement was a great shock for the young man, and at the end of April 1743, having met Professor Winsheim on the way to the geographical department, could not resist. Eyewitnesses noted that Lomonosov “publicly defamed professors, calling them cheats and other bad words. A counselor Schumacher called a thief. " With this act, Mikhail Vasilyevich finally turned the majority of academicians against himself. Eleven professors appealed to the commission of inquiry with the requirement of "satisfaction". At the end of May, the scientist was called "to talk", but he refused to answer questions and was arrested. These clashes allowed Schumacher's comrades to achieve the main thing - the investigators turned their attention to his unrestrained and hot-tempered adversary from the enticing head of the office. The “academic affair” ended by the end of 1743, and everyone seemed to be left with it. Schumacher, having paid a hundred rubles for the embezzlement of official wine, returned to the place of the first adviser, Nartov remained in the old position of the second adviser, while Lomonosov, who publicly apologized for his speech, retained an adjunct position and the opportunity to engage in scientific activities.

It should be noted that Lomonosov’s family affairs also did not go well in those years. In the autumn of 1740, he found out about the death of his father, who did not return from the next voyage. In December, 1740's wife bore him a son, Ivan, but the baby soon died. The cruel lack of money did not allow Mikhail Vasilyevich to take Elizabeth Khristina to her in St. Petersburg, because of which the scientist's wife felt abandoned. In March, 1743 finally sent money to her in the midst of the fight against the “Schuhhershchina”, and in the autumn of the same year she and her daughter and brother arrived in the northern capital of Russia to learn with horror that her husband had been sent for investigation. In addition to this, their daughter Catherine Elizabeth soon passed away.

Lomonosov learned the proper lessons from what had happened and since then he never again expressed his feelings openly. Living under arrest, Mikhail Vasilyevich wrote a huge number of unique scientific studies that increased his authority in the scientific world. This led to unexpected success - in April, 1745 he sent a petition for the assignment of the post of professor of chemistry. Schumacher, convinced that academics, offended by scientists, would fail his candidacy, sent a request for consideration by members of the Academy. He miscalculated, in the month of June, having familiarized himself with the work "On metallic luster", the academicians spoke in favor of Lomonosov. In mid-August, Mikhail Vasilievich 1745 - one of the first Russian scientists - was awarded the high title of professor of the Academy of Sciences. And in October, after long delays, the chemical laboratory began to work, which became a home for the Russian genius - there he lived all day, setting experiments and lecturing to students. By the way, modern physical chemistry owes its birth to Lomonosov. The milestone was a course given to a scientist in the 1751 year, affecting the fundamentals of the corpuscular (molecular-kinetic) theory, which was contrary to the theory of caloric that dominated at that time. Improved and family affairs of a scientist. In February, 1749 had a daughter, Helen. The only heiress of Lomonosov subsequently married Alexei Konstantinov, the librarian of Catherine II.

Despite the return of Schumacher to power, it soon became clear that the Academy members did not intend to tolerate him anymore. Speaking against the first counselor of the office of the united camp, they sent a whole package of complaints to the Senate. Lomonosov, who became one of the leaders of the ongoing struggle, developed a new “Regulation”, providing for the expansion of the rights of scientists. In May, 1746 was appointed by Kirill Razumovsky, president of the Academy, who was the younger brother of the Tsarist favorite. Seriously not interested in culture or science, a very lazy count entrusted all the problems of the institution to his mentor, Grigory Teplov. The latter, in turn, was most concerned with strengthening the position at court, and therefore preferred to hand over the routine affairs to Schumacher. At the same time, the authorities, in order not to allow the Academy of Sciences to become a self-governing organization, transformed it into a state department, “bestowing” its own “Regulations” on academics, which placed them under the authority of the Chancellery. These events led to the departure abroad of a number of prominent scientists. Lomonosov strongly condemned such actions, calling them treacherous. Among other things, the flight of academicians dealt a blow to his reputation, since Mikhail Vasilyevich was in charge of some of them.

It is curious that at present Lomonosov is mainly known as an outstanding scientist who left his mark in many fields of science. However, during his lifetime, Mikhail Vasilyevich was known to society first and foremost as a brilliant poet. In 1748, Lomonosov published a book about the science of eloquence "Rhetoric", containing many translations of Roman and Greek works. The result of his literary activity was summed up by the “Collected Works in Prose and in Verses by Mikhail Lomonosov” published in 1751. Among other things, Mikhail Vasilyevich introduced a trisyllabic foot (amphibrach, anapaest, and dactyl, differing in the stress on different syllables), as well as the "male" rhyme (iamb).

In 1750, an important event occurred in the life of a scientist, greatly facilitating its existence. He met with the new favorite of Elizabeth Petrovna, twenty-three Ivan Shuvalov. Unlike Cyril Razumovsky, this young man was a true connoisseur of beauty and supported the people of science and art in every way. With great respect, he treated Lomonosov, often coming to visit him in order to talk on various topics. Warm relations with Ivan Ivanovich helped Lomonosov both in everyday terms and in the implementation of his many intentions. Already in 1751, the son of Pomor received the rank of a collegiate councilor with a large salary of one thousand two hundred rubles a year and the right to hereditary nobility. Professor of the Academy of Sciences Jacob Shtelin gave at that time an interesting general characteristic of Lomonosov’s personality: “Physical qualities: the strength of an almost athletic and fortress is outstanding. As an example - the struggle with the three sailors, which he defeated, taking off their clothes. Mental qualities: knowledge is greedy, a researcher seeking to discover new things. Lifestyle: common people. Moral qualities: with domestic and subordinates are strict, uncouth. "



In 1746, Count Mikhail Vorontsov delivered samples of Italian mosaics from Rome, the secrets of which were carefully guarded. Lomonosov, who received a chemical laboratory, decided to develop his own technology for the production of colored opaque glass. The first quality samples he received at the beginning of 1750. Having achieved success and being a practical man, the 25 scientist in September 1752 sent a “proposal to organize a mosaic case” to the Empress, asking for 3710 rubles for needs every year. This project was rejected, but Lomonosov raised the issue until he knocked out the Senate's permission to allocate a small plot of land in Ust-Ruditsa (near Oranienbaum) and two hundred serfs for the construction of a glass factory. The company of the Russian genius began work at the beginning of 1754. After giving young peasants lessons in working with glass, Mikhail Vasilyevich began to look for artists who were able to create mosaic paintings. He managed to achieve the transfer to the factory of students of the Academic Drawing School Efim Melnikov and Matvey Vasiliev, who became the creators of most of his mosaics. The scientist himself did not have the talent of the artist, but he was well aware of the properties of colored glass and gave very valuable recommendations to those who built the mosaics. In addition, Mikhail Vasilievich drew his brother-in-law Johann Zilch to work at the factory. Within a short period after the discovery, the production of beads, beads, glass beads and smalt was established. A year later, such “haberdashery products” as pendants, cut stones, brooches, cufflinks were manufactured at the factory. With 1757, multicolored, mostly turquoise glass began to make more sophisticated luxury items - writing and toiletry, dinner sets, cast dining boards, blown figures, decorations for gardens. However, all the products did not find demand - the entrepreneur from Lomonosov turned out to be insufficiently resourceful. The scientist pinned great hopes on state orders - mainly on a series of large-scale mosaics about the acts of Peter the Great. But only the popular “Poltava battle” was completed, and soon after the death of Mikhail Vasilyevich the factory in Ust-Ruditsa was closed.

In addition to his studies in chemistry, Lomonosov, together with Professor of the Academy of Sciences Georg Richman, studied the nature of thunderstorm phenomena. By the way, Richman even built his own “thunder machine”, which registered electrical discharges in the atmosphere. The professors collaborated with each other and tried not to miss a single thunderstorm. In late July, 1753 broke out in the middle of the day the strongest thunderstorm, and scientists, as usual, stood at their instruments. After some time, Mikhail Vasilyevich went to lunch, and this, apparently, saved his life. Lomonosov wrote to Ivan Shuvalov about what happened afterwards: “I sat at the table for a couple of minutes, the door was suddenly opened by Richman’s man, covered in tears and out of breath. He barely reprimanded: “The professor was struck with thunder” ... The first blow from the hanging line came to his head - a red-cherry stain was visible on his forehead, and an electric thunder force emerged from his legs into the boards. His legs were blue, one shoe was torn, but not burned. He was still warm, and we tried to resume the movement of blood. However, his head is damaged and there is no more hope ... The professor died, fulfilling the position by his profession. ” Shocked by the incident, Mikhail Vasilyevich, with the support of Shuvalov, got out a life pension for the widow and children of his deceased colleague.

There are quite a few rather pessimistic assessments of Lomonosov concerning the Academic University in which he studied and worked. In his notes, the scientist noted that of the eleven students of the Spasskaya School who had joined the Academic University in 1732 with him, only one managed to become a professor. The rest "from the care of the bad all spoiled." The next twelve pupils of the Slavic-Latin Academy, who went to St. Petersburg to 1735, were deprived of free food and accommodation. There was no sensible study. When the students appealed to the Senate with a complaint, Schumacher ordered them to be carved by the batogs. A similar picture was observed in the future - classes were not systematic, and the professors of the Academy themselves considered lectures to be a burden and a waste of time. According to Lomonosov: “Students, being cold and hungry, could think a little about the doctrine ... It’s no wonder that not only professors or adjuncts homegrown, but worthy students didn’t happen since the founding of the gymnasium.” In the end, Lomonosov sadly remarked: “St. Petersburg University has no action. There is nothing inside that could be called a university and an Academy. ”

Concerned about the fate of science in the country in 1754, he turned to Ivan Shuvalov with the proposal to establish a higher education institution not directly connected with the Academy of Sciences. The project prepared by the scientist was transferred to the Senate by Count Shuvalov, and in January 1755 Elizaveta Petrovna approved it. This is how Moscow University appeared, created on fundamentally different grounds than its Moscow counterpart. Most importantly, it was not an appendage to any institution, and therefore had the main task only to train students. The charter of the institution provided the teachers and students with some autonomy, which was very important because it developed a mentality alien to the Academic University. The feeling of corporatism was inherent in teachers and students of Moscow University, at least partially overcoming class prejudices, since in the same audiences lecturers, soldiers and peasants, popoviches and noblemen listened to lectures. The opening ceremony of Moscow University was held at the end of April 1755 in the building of the former Main Pharmacy, classes began in the summer of that year.

Lomonosov, at this time, was headlong into the problems of organizing the work of a glass factory and an art workshop in which mosaics were to be created. In parallel, he managed to deal with various academic affairs, as well as with such pressing issues as the organization of illumination during the celebration of the empress's namesday. With 1755, with the support of Shuvalov, Mikhail Vasilyevich launched an attack on the academic front, severely criticizing the state of affairs at the Academy of Sciences. In this regard, he quarreled with Grigory Teplov and received a reprimand from Academy President Kirill Razumovsky. The empress intervened in the matter, and as a result, all the differences were hushed up, and in March 1757 Mikhail Vasilyevich was appointed a member of the academic office. A year later, Lomonosov became the head of the geographical department of the Academy of Sciences, concentrating his efforts on the development of the Atlas of the Russian Empire, which describes the most remote areas of the country, including Kamchatka. Taking control of the leadership of the Academic University and the Academic Gymnasium, the scientist took measures to establish the normal activities of these institutions. In particular, he significantly improved the financial situation of students, and also doubled their number (up to sixty people). Alexander Pushkin in his notes cited an interesting episode of the conversation between Lomonosov and Shuvalov in those years. One day, in the heat of an argument, an angry Ivan Ivanovich told the scientist: "So I will leave you alone from the Academy." To which the Russian genius replied: “No. Is that the Academy from me leave?.

Despite the administrative activity, Mikhail Vasilyevich did not leave scientific research - in particular, during these years he developed a new “Russian grammar” and turned to the history of Russia. The study of the sources resulted in the works of Lomonosov “Ancient Russian history” (brought to 1054 of the year) and “A brief Russian chronicler with a genealogy”. In addition, leaving the department of chemistry at 1755, Lomonosov got a home laboratory and continued his research there. The work with glass led him to a fascination with optics and to the creation of an original color theory, opposed to the generally accepted Newtonian. In addition, the scientist has developed a number of unique optical devices, not appreciated by his contemporaries. For example, the “sight-sight tube”, which allowed “to distinguish ships and rocks at night” or the bathoscope, which made it possible to “see the bottom much deeper in the sea and in rivers”. Finally, Mikhail Vasilyevich formulated a number of original theoretical ideas, subsequently confirmed, however, during the lifetime of the genius, those who remained for the most part were not understood. For example, in the Word on the Birth of Metals, Lomonosov argued that coal was obtained from peat bog under the action of an underground fire.

26 May 1761 occurred extremely rare astronomical phenomenon - the passage of the planet Venus on the solar disk. For this event, calculated in advance, preparing a lot of scientists from all European countries. Lomonosov, being the head of the geographical department, sent two expeditions to Selenginsk and to Irkutsk. Mikhail Vasilyevich himself organized the "spectacle" of Venus in St. Petersburg, personally taking part in it. As a result, he, like many other observers, noticed a kind of light around the planet. However, Lomonosov was the only one who gave him the correct interpretation - “Venus” has its own atmosphere. Observation of the planet was the reason for the next invention - the scientist took up the improvement of the telescope and proposed a fundamentally new design with one concave mirror. Due to the increase in luminous flux, the Lomonosov device came out more powerful and not as bulky as the previous devices. In May, 1762 Lomonosov demonstrated the telescope's work at a meeting of the Academy of Sciences, but a report on this was not published for political reasons.

At the end of June 1762 there was another palace coup, putting Catherine II at the helm of power. The balance of power in the Academy of Sciences has changed dramatically. Ivan Shuvalov, thanks to whom Lomonosov could work freely, turned out to be against the new empress. Catherine also remembered that the protégé of Shuvalov had never before sought to achieve her location. It is not surprising that Mikhail Vasilyevich - the only one of the prominent members of the Academy - was left without any honor when the queen assumed the throne. Offended scientist, referring to the "bone in the bones," sent a request for resignation, but the answer to it has not received. And in 1763, Grigori Teplov, who had recovered his spirit, tried, with the support of Razumovsky, to take over the geographical department of Lomonosov. Mikhail Vasilyevich was able to repel the onslaught, presenting the most extensive list executed in recent years. Then the opponents of the great scientist jumped at his resignation. This had an effect, and in early May 1763 Catherine II signed a corresponding decree.



In retirement, Lomonosov did not stay long. This time Grigory Orlov himself defended him. Thanks to the intervention of the favorite, the empress not only canceled her order, but also gave Mikhail Vasilyevich the rank of State Counselor, raising her annual salary to 1900 rubles. And soon Lomonosov received a proposal from Catherine to improve the work of the Academy of Sciences to develop a new “Regulation”. He gladly carried out this task - the created project limited the powers of the office and granted more rights to the community of scientists. These thoughts were to some extent taken into account after the death of Lomonosov, when the Academy was headed by Vladimir Orlov. The same tonality was made by the project of the Agricultural Academy compiled by Mikhail Vasilyevich at 1763. He saw the main figures in it as practitioners and scientists - physicists, chemists, foresters, gardeners, botanists, enlightened landowners, but not bureaucrats.

In the last years of his life, Lomonosov enthusiastically engaged in collecting his own organized expedition to find "the passage of the Siberian Ocean to East India." The scientist delved into all the technical details of the upcoming voyage, in particular, he developed an "Instruction for naval officers", drew up an approximate route of travel and provided the sailors with "over-sight pipes" of their own manufacture. Unfortunately, two expeditions carried out after the death of Lomonosov in 1765 and 1766 under the command of Vasily Chichagov ended in failure.

Formerly, the scientist's strong health in 1764 began to deteriorate sharply - increasingly, Mikhail Vasilyevich was chained to the bed by “scrap in the bones”. In June, a tsarina unexpectedly visited him during another illness. Having spent a couple of hours in Lomonosov’s house, Catherine II, according to reviews, tried to encourage the scientist in every possible way. And in March, 1765, Mikhail Vasilievich, returning from the meeting of the Admiralty Board, caught a bad cold. He had pneumonia, and on April 15, at about five o'clock in the afternoon, Lomonosov passed away. A Russian torch was buried at the Lazarevsky cemetery in the territory of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. Literally on the eve of his death, he ordered his nephew, Mikhail Golovin, to be appointed to the Academic Gymnasium at public expense. Subsequently, Mikhail Evseevich became a famous Russian mathematician.



According to the materials of the site http://www.lomonosov300.ru/ and the weekly edition “Our history. 100 great names.
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13 comments
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  1. +2
    April 23 2015 06: 10
    Undeniably talented! Much is said about that without me
    I didn’t shy away from the ladies, and I was not a nerd at all, the Pomeranian disposition
    Loved a drink. One drunken trick, when Lomonosov called the conference secretary of the Academy of Sciences dirty German curses Hundsfott and Spitzbuben, cost him six months of arrest. Sitting under arrest, Lomonosov wrote The Short Guide to Rhetoric, three major articles on physics, and his best poems.
    Know our
    Legends spoke of the heroic strength of Lomonosov during his lifetime. Here is one of them. Once he walked along a clearing in the forest, which at that time covered the coastal part of Vasilyevsky Island (now it is Bolshoy Prospect of Vasilyevsky Island). Three sailors, jumping out of the forest, attacked him and tried to rob. Lomonosov alone coped with the robbers. Two ran away, and the third Lomonosov tumbled to the ground and ... "robbed him" - took off his uniform sailor clothes, gave a kick and drove away
  2. +3
    April 23 2015 07: 18
    Everyone knows about Lomonosov. But the fate of Vasily Kirillych Trediakovsky is a narrow circle. Although he deserves no less respect, he also made the transition from the sea to Moscow, he was one of the first Russians at the Sorbonne. He was the first to translate into Russian many French "salon and gallant" novels which contributed to the assimilation of new traditions in Russian society. And in fact, he is the first major Russian poet.
  3. +3
    April 23 2015 08: 02
    It is a pity that the book Lomonosov: "Ancient Russian History from the beginning of the Russian people to the death of Grand Prince Yaroslav the First or until 1054 essay Mikhailo Lomonosov, state councilor, professor of chemistry and member of the St. Petersburg Imperial and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences" was published after his death and the editorial (perversions of the truth) by her nemchu in favor of the Western theory of the worthlessness of Russians ...
    1. +3
      April 23 2015 16: 21
      Doesn't it seem strange to you that this is another strange death in our history, maybe again "Friends" tried to poison.
  4. 0
    April 23 2015 08: 37
    Always interested in such a moment, why in Russia there were so few scientists before the 20th century?
    Why did they breed in inquisitorial Europe at such a frantic pace?
    1. 0
      April 23 2015 11: 39
      Until the eighteenth century, you wanted to say? Well, count the number of universities and schools in the pre-Petrine era with us and with them.
      And this is taking into account that in the earlier period of history the literacy of the population was higher, remember the same birch bark letters.
      1. 0
        April 23 2015 12: 09
        Not until the 20th century.
        Our scientists can be counted on the fingers.
        It is not clear what exactly prevented the development of Russian science.
        1. 0
          April 23 2015 12: 32
          You have a lot of fingers, it takes envy.
          If we compare with all the countries of the Old and New Worlds - then, of course, we have less. In proportion to the population of the countries being compared. This applies to the 18-21 centuries.
          Well, before the 18th, I already said why you should not be surprised at the absence of Ivan Paracelsus and Leonid da Vinci in the Russian chronicles.
          1. +1
            April 23 2015 12: 53
            Why with everyone?
            It is enough to compare with France and Germany.
            And why in Russia did the first university open only 700 after Europe? What prevented something?
            If, indeed, before 10-12 centuries, the population of Russia was more literate than the population of Europe.
            1. 0
              April 23 2015 22: 15
              Quote: Darkness
              And why in Russia did the first university open only 700 after Europe? What prevented something?

              It seems to me that three factors played here. The first is the invasion of the Mongols, who knocked out Russian civilization quite strongly. And I had to get on my feet for a very long time and there was no time for science.
              The second is geographical. The development of science always proceeds through the exchange of opinions, hypotheses, and concepts. Truth is born in a dispute. And here it was easier for Europe to do this, they are much more compact and closer to each other, the exchange of information was faster.
              And the third is the conflict of religions. After the split of Christianity into two branches - Catholicism and Orthodoxy, in fact, a real war between confessions began. We can say it was a kind of "cold war" of that time. And the Catholics were in a better position. They were all the same united by the language - Latin. This gave an advantage, a large baggage of the Roman Empire, which also spurred development. And the Orthodox civilization found itself in a difficult situation after the fall of Byzantium, which also slowed us down. And this conflict of religions, when any innovation of the West was perceived by us as heresy and was taken with hostility, also led to a lag. And in fact, only Peter the Great broke this situation. Lomonosov is the result of Peter's transformations, it is not for nothing that Mikhail Vasilyevich himself highly appreciated Peter.
  5. +1
    April 23 2015 08: 54
    On such people as Lomonosov Russia rests!
  6. +2
    April 23 2015 10: 06
    Man! With a capital letter. That's who you need to talk about and glorify. And minobrazin introduces Solzhenitsyn into the school curriculum, not by Victory Day it will be said. By the way, Lomonosov was against Norman theory, in particular, but in general he fought as best he could with German dominance in science and not only.
  7. +1
    April 23 2015 11: 06
    Nugget. The conjuncture did not follow. He didn’t bow to the Germans.
    And what we now have is the Unified State Examination. What kind of scientists are there ... The future is being deprived of the country.
  8. 0
    April 23 2015 13: 38
    We scold "ukronatsik", and ourselves - "The embodiment of RUSSIAN science"! Why not Russian? And how Russian was Lomonosov? And how Russian are we ourselves? I have mixed with both Polish and so-called Ukrainian blood, and there are Kalmyks and descendants of the Cossacks, who mastered Siberia ... who am I? Everything around is permeated with nationalism ... Ukrainian, Russian, some other kind ... Zadolbalo ... am
    1. +1
      April 23 2015 16: 32
      Patriotism (pride in one’s country) is not to be confused with nationalism.
  9. 0
    April 23 2015 14: 26
    In the long sea voyages that reached the Solovetsky Islands and the Kola Peninsula, my father constantly took - the transition to the Solovki is a long journey?
    1. 0
      April 23 2015 16: 25
      Well, if you take from his place of birth in a straight line (by plane) km. 200 to Solovki. Well, if by the river and then by sea, then all 250 km.
  10. The comment was deleted.
  11. +1
    April 23 2015 21: 36
    The "Ancient Russian History" of the great Russian scientist Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov (1711 - 1765) is the most valuable work on the history of pagan Rus. As an outstanding scientist, Lomonosov paid great attention to the cultural heritage of the Russian people. If there were more such scientists, if not them, we would never have learned the truth about ourselves and our Great past. Glory and praise to the discoverers of the Russians, with which our Fatherland is filled with labor today. In spite of the ignorant authorities, in spite of the enemies, the Russian State is being built today, it has been so in the future, and it will be so forever!
  12. 0
    April 24 2015 17: 11
    There are other less romantic versions of the biography of the great scientist:

    "Lomonosov's father was a wealthy and respectable man. He was the first on the White Sea to build a two-masted European-type sailing ship with a displacement of one hundred tons - twice the size of Columbus's caravel!
    Tsar Peter ordered to build such ships upon his return from Holland. Vasily Lomonosov's ships traded throughout the North. Lomonosov's mother, the beautiful Elena, has never been a servant to anyone, if only because she came from a deacon's family. She really died young, and after her death, her father often took Mikhail on a voyage, since the boy was taught to read and write. From the age of nine he kept trade books and helped his father with the calculations. Most likely, Mikhailo studied at the Kholmogory Slavic-Latin school - the forerunner of the gymnasium. Enlightenment spread rapidly across Russia. Lomonosov did not go to Moscow alone, but his stepmother's brother, Semyon Korelsky, a noble merchant, took him there. "...

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