Only the indefatigable passion for knowledge helped the son of a peasant to become the founder of such areas of science as natural sciences, chemistry, astronomy, instrumentation, geography, metallurgy, geology, philology. Lomonosov is one of the most striking examples of climbing the social ladder from the bottom to the very tops.
Childhood
Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov was born on November 8 (19), 1711 in the village of Mishaninsky Kurostrovsky volost, Dvinsky district, Arkhangelogorod province. Nowadays, the settlement is named after the great scientist - the village of Lomonosovo.
Father - a wealthy peasant Vasily Dorofeevich. Mother, Elena Ivanovna, left our world when the boy was only nine years old.
The family owned a rather large plot of land. The main profit came from fishing. The Lomonosov family belonged to experienced sailors. From the age of ten, young Misha took part in campaigns. Along with fishing, the boy loved to read. The clerk of the local church taught him this tricky business. It was then that the boy wrote on paper his full name - Mikhail Lomonosov. The biography of the scientist says that the work of his teacher was writing letters, petitions and conducting business correspondence.
When the boy was thirteen years old, his father married a third time. My stepmother’s relationship didn’t work out right away. And a year later, in a harsh winter, Lomonosov, whose biography is very difficult to describe briefly, quietly left the house. He was lucky - the fish train was sent in the right direction, to which the future scientist joined. The boy went to conquer Moscow, where so far no one knew who Lomonosov was.
Hard choice
In tsarist Russia, higher education could only be obtained in three large cities. Of course, these were Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev. Of the options presented, Mikhail Lomonosov chose the first. His journey to knowledge took more than three weeks.
Start date
In January 1731, the boy successfully entered school. Teachers learned who Lomonosov is: first of all, a diligent student, with all his nature striving for sciences. He spent all his free time studying library books.
A very small salary was even paid for the training, for which it was possible to get only a little bread and kvass. More than once Lomonosov grieved over the poverty that had befallen him, but he never seriously thought about dropping out of his studies and returning to his native village, where his father wanted to marry him to one of the local beauties.
The future scientist was clearly more developed than his peers. Therefore, in one year he could skip two or three classes at once. He mastered Latin and Greek quite well.
Petersburg
In 1735, as part of the twelve most successful students, he was transferred to study at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Who is Lomonosov, were able to personally witness the luminaries of science. All major disciplines were presented in this educational institution.
Life was more than modest. But the academy gave out clothes, and the rooms had simple furniture.
Each morning began with a lesson in intensive German language learning. In addition to philology and writing poetry, the scientist was engaged in mathematics, physics, chemistry, mineralogy.
A diligent student quickly became familiar, and very soon not one of the teachers had a question about who Lomonosov is.
German period of life
In 1736, a group of students, which included Mikhail Vasilievich, was sent to study in Germany.
The main objective was training in mining with the aim of further teaching at institutes. No one was surprised that Lomonosov was in the group.
The next five years of the scientist’s life passed in Germany and partly in Holland. The result of this period was a deep knowledge in physics, chemistry, mining. Even a life of debt and starving did not disappoint Mikhail Vasilyevich in the correctness of the chosen direction.
Family life
In 1739, having quarreled with a teacher, Lomonosov, whose biography is presented in the article, leaves training and tries to return back to Russia. He does not succeed. He marries the daughter of the mistress of the house in which he rented a house - Elizabeth Zilch. In the same year, a young couple has a daughter. Unfortunately, the girl did not live long, she died in 1743.
In December 1741, the boy Ivan is born. But not having lived even two months, the child died. In February 1749, daughter Elena was born.
Return to Russia
In June 1741, Lomonosov returned to his native Academy of Sciences and, together with Professor I. Amman, began collecting minerals and fossils. He grows like a poet. Translates articles from German magazines. He begins to experiment as an inventor. Soon he gets the opportunity to independently teach and participate in meetings of the academic meeting. Soon the world saw the first dissertations in physics and chemistry.
In June 1745, Mikhail Vasilievich received the title of Professor of Chemistry at the St. Petersburg Academy. According to the personal request of the scientist, the arrangement of a chemical laboratory has begun, which was completed two years later.
In 1748, the historical department was opened, in which Lomonosov takes an active part.
In the same year, Mikhail Vasilievich became a journalist. The activity began with translations of foreign letters for the newspaper St. Petersburg Vedomosti.
Further activities
After drawing closer to the empress’s favorite, Ivan Shuvalov, Lomonosov gets the opportunity to promote his ideas at the highest level.
So, under his influence in 1755, Moscow University was opened with the teaching of a foreign sample.
Already in 1756, Lomonosov began an active struggle for the education of children of lower classes in grammar schools and universities. In part, he succeeds.
In 1758, he became the head of the geographical department. Colossal work is being done to create an atlas of Russia.
In 1763, Catherine II promoted the scientist to state councilors.
In the same year he received the title of member of the Academy of Arts for working with mosaics.
Memory
In 1765, Mikhail Vasilyevich became seriously ill. Unfortunately, he failed to recover. The great scientist died on April 4 (15), 1765. He was buried at the Lazarevsky cemetery in St. Petersburg.
Lomonosov is a unique scientist who was able to prove himself in almost all branches of science: physics, chemistry, literature, languages. In addition, the world saw many of his inventions. He is one of the few who was able to unravel the secret of staining glass in red. His work with mosaics has long struck the minds of contemporaries. The work was very long, intense and painstaking. Used a variety of optical devices of their own manufacture. An ardent fighter with injustice. A practical scientist who was distinguished not only by criticism, but also by a worthy proposal to replace a hypothesis that did not satisfy him. Work on mining and metallurgy to this day may be of interest to specialists. In general, Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov was an outstanding person.
His memory will be passed on from generation to generation for a long time.