Mikhail Lomonosov

Mikhail Lomonosov was born in 1711 in the family of a fisherman in the northern coastal village of Denisovka not far from Archangelsk. When he was ten years of age his father began to take him for sea fishing. The dangerous life of a fisherman taught him to observe the natural phenomena more closely. During the long winter nights young Lomonosov studied his letters, grammar and arithmetic diligently.

Being the son of a peasant, he was refused admission to the local school. After some years, through concealing his peasant origin, he gained admission to the Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy and for five years lived a hand-to-mouth existence on three kopecks a day. The noblemen's sons studying with him made fun of the twenty-year-old giant who, in spite of the years and his own poverty, made rapid progress.

After five years came the chance of entering the Academy of Sciences, as there were not enough noble-born students to fill the quota. His ability and diligence attracted the attention of the professors and as one of three best students he was sent abroad. He spent all the time there studying the works of leading European scientists in chemistry, metallurgy, mining and mathematics. On his return to Russia in 1745 he was made a professor and was the first Russian scientist to become a member of the Academy of Sciences.

For versatility Lomonosov has no equal in Russian science. Many of his ideas and discoveries only won recognition in the nineteenth century. He was the first to discover the vegetable origin of coal, for instance, and as a poet and scientist he played a great role in the formation of the Russian literary language, eliminating distortions and unnecessary foreign words. He died in 1765. His living memorial is Moscow University, which he founded in 1755.