Dmitri Mendeleev
Russian chemist who created the periodic table of elements.
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev was a Russian chemist who formulated the periodic law and developed a version of the periodic table of elements. He applied this law to correct the then-accepted properties of certain known elements, including the valence and atomic weight of uranium. Additionally, he used the periodic law to predict the properties of three elements that had not yet been discovered: germanium, gallium, and scandium. The synthetic element mendelevium was later named in his honor.
Mendeleev was born in the Siberian village of Verkhnie Aremzyani, near Tobolsk, to Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev, a school principal and teacher, and Maria Dmitrievna Mendeleeva, who came from a family of Tobolsk merchants. He was the youngest of 17 siblings, though the exact number varies among sources. His father became blind and lost his teaching position, and his mother restarted the family’s abandoned glass factory. After his father’s death and the destruction of the factory by fire, Mendeleev attended the Gymnasium in Tobolsk at age 13. His mother later took him to Moscow and then Saint Petersburg to pursue education; he entered the Main Pedagogical Institute in 1850. After graduation, he contracted tuberculosis and moved to the Crimean Peninsula, where he became a science master. He returned to Saint Petersburg in 1857 with restored health. Between 1859 and 1861, he studied capillarity and the spectroscope in Heidelberg, then published a textbook on organic chemistry that won the Demidov Prize. He became a professor at the Saint Petersburg Technological Institute and Saint Petersburg State University in 1864 and 1865, respectively, earning his doctorate for a dissertation on combinations of water with alcohol. By 1871, he had transformed Saint Petersburg into an internationally recognized center for chemistry research. While writing his textbook *Principles of Chemistry*, he noticed patterns among elements and claimed to have envisioned the complete arrangement in a dream, leading to his periodic table.
- field
- Chemistry
- nationality
- Russian
- known_for
- Formulating the periodic law and creating a version of the periodic table of elements
Lore & Background
He was the youngest of 17 siblings, though the exact number differs among sources. After his father became blind and lost his teaching position, and his mother's glass factory was destroyed by fire, Mendeleev attended the Gymnasium in Tobolsk at age 13. His mother then took him from Siberia to Moscow to enroll at the university there, but he was not accepted. They continued to Saint Petersburg, where he entered the Main Pedagogical Institute. After graduating, he contracted tuberculosis and moved to the Crimean Peninsula, working as a science master at a gymnasium before returning to Saint Petersburg with restored health. He later worked on capillarity and the spectroscope in Heidelberg, and published a textbook on organic chemistry that won a major prize. Mendeleev became a professor at the Saint Petersburg Technological Institute and Saint Petersburg State University, earning his doctorate for a dissertation on water-alcohol combinations. While teaching inorganic chemistry, he wrote *Principles of Chemistry*, a definitive textbook. Attempting to classify elements by chemical properties, he noticed patterns and claimed to have envisioned the complete arrangement of the periodic table in a dream. He used his periodic law to correct the accepted properties of known elements like uranium and to predict the properties of three undiscovered elements: germanium, gallium, and scandium. The synthetic element mendelevium is named in his honor.
Reader's Guide
He claimed to have envisioned the complete arrangement in a dream. Using his periodic law, he corrected the then-accepted properties of known elements, including the valence and atomic weight of uranium. He also accurately predicted the properties of three elements yet to be discovered: ekasilicon, ekaaluminium, and ekaboron, later identified as germanium, gallium, and scandium. The synthetic element mendelevium is named in his honor. His work transformed Saint Petersburg into an internationally recognized center for chemistry research by 1871. His textbook *Principles of Chemistry*, published in two volumes between 1868 and 1870, became the definitive textbook of its time and was written as he prepared his course. His legacy endures as the foundation of modern chemical classification, providing the framework for understanding elemental periodicity and guiding the discovery of new elements.
Did You Know?
- Mendeleev predicted the properties of three undiscovered elements: germanium, gallium, and scandium.
- The synthetic element mendelevium is named in his honor.
- He claimed to have envisioned the complete arrangement of the periodic table in a dream.
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