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Dmitri Mendeleev Timeline

(1834 - 1907)

Dmitri Mendeleev (1834–1907) was a Russian chemist best known for formulating the Periodic Law and creating the periodic table of elements, which arranged elements by atomic weight and predicted the properties of elements not yet discovered. Less

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Early Life and Education

Family heritage of the Kornilievs

1834

Maria Kornilieva came from a well-known family of Tobolsk merchants, founders of the first Siberian printing house, who traced their ancestry to Yakov Korniliev, a 17th-century posad man who became a wealthy merchant.

Birth of Dmitri Mendeleev

Jan 27, 1834

Dmitri Mendeleev was born in the village of Verkhnie Aremzyani, near Tobolsk in Siberia, to Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev and Maria Dmitrievna Mendeleeva (née Kornilieva).

Image source: Dmitri Mendeleev

Birth of Dmitri Mendeleev

Journey from Siberia to Moscow

1849

In 1849, Mendeleev's mother took him across Russia from Siberia to Moscow with the aim of getting him enrolled at Moscow University.

Entry into the Main Pedagogical Institute

1850

The now poor Mendeleev family relocated to Saint Petersburg, where he entered the Main Pedagogical Institute in 1850.

Move to the Crimean Peninsula due to tuberculosis

1855

After graduation, Mendeleev contracted tuberculosis, causing him to move to the Crimean Peninsula on the northern coast of the Black Sea in 1855.

Return to Saint Petersburg in good health

1857

In 1857, Mendeleev returned to Saint Petersburg with fully restored health.

Claim that Yakov Korniliev was a baptized Teleut

1889

In 1889, a local librarian published an article in the Tobolsk newspaper claiming that Yakov Korniliev was a baptized Teleut, an ethnic minority known as 'white Kalmyks' at the time.

Scientific Career

Research in Heidelberg on capillarity and spectroscopy

1859 - 1861

Between 1859 and 1861, Mendeleev worked in Heidelberg on the capillarity of liquids and the workings of the spectroscope.

Publication of Organic Chemistry textbook

1861

Later in 1861, Mendeleev published a textbook named Organic Chemistry. That same year, he anticipated Thomas Andrews' conception of the critical temperature of gases by defining the absolute boiling-point of a substance.

Professorship at Saint Petersburg Technological Institute

1864

In 1864, Mendeleev became a professor at the Saint Petersburg Technological Institute.

Doctor of Science degree

1865

In 1865, Mendeleev became a Doctor of Science for his dissertation 'On the Combinations of Water with Alcohol'. He also became a professor at Saint Petersburg State University that year.

Tenure at Saint Petersburg University

1867

Mendeleev achieved tenure in 1867 at St. Petersburg University and began teaching inorganic chemistry while succeeding Voskresenskii; by 1871, he had transformed Saint Petersburg into an internationally recognized center for chemistry research.

Image source: Saint Petersburg State University

Tenure at Saint Petersburg University

Founding of the Russian Chemical Society

1868

Mendeleev was one of the founders, in 1868, of the Russian Chemical Society.

Image source: European Chemical Society

Founding of the Russian Chemical Society

Personal Life

Engagement to Feozva Nikitichna Leshcheva

Apr 4, 1862

On 4 April 1862, Mendeleev became engaged to Feozva Nikitichna Leshcheva.

Marriage to Feozva Nikitichna Leshcheva

Apr 27, 1862

Mendeleev married Feozva Nikitichna Leshcheva on 27 April 1862 at Nikolaev Engineering Institute's church in Saint Petersburg, where he taught.

Mendeleev meets Anna Ivanovna Popova

1876

In 1876, Mendeleev met Anna Ivanovna Popova and began courting her; in 1881 he proposed to her and threatened suicide if she refused.

Marriage to Anna Ivanovna Popova and finalized divorce

1882

Mendeleev married Anna Ivanovna Popova in early 1882; his divorce from Leshcheva was finalized one month after, on 2 April.

Periodic Table and Recognition

State of chemical element knowledge in 1863

1863

In 1863, there were 56 known elements, with a new element being discovered at a rate of approximately one per year, providing the context for Mendeleev's work on organizing the elements.

Image source: Periodic table

State of chemical element knowledge in 1863

Newlands' Law of Octaves

1864

John Newlands described a Law of Octaves, noting periodicity according to relative atomic weight in 1864, publishing it in 1865. The concept was criticized and not recognized by the Society of Chemists until 1887.

Image source: John Newlands (chemist)

Newlands' Law of Octaves

Lothar Meyer's paper classifying 28 elements

1864

Another person to propose a periodic table was Lothar Meyer, who published a paper in 1864 describing 28 elements classified by their valence, but with no predictions of new elements.

Image source: Lothar Meyer

Lothar Meyer's paper classifying 28 elements

Writing of Principles of Chemistry

1868 - 1870

After becoming a teacher in 1867, Mendeleev wrote Principles of Chemistry, which became the definitive textbook of its time. It was published in two volumes between 1868 and 1870 as he prepared a textbook for his course.

Image source: Outline of physical science

Writing of Principles of Chemistry

Presentation of the periodic law to the Russian Chemical Society

Mar 6, 1869

On 6 March 1869, Mendeleev made a formal presentation to the Russian Chemical Society titled The Dependence between the Properties of the Atomic Weights of the Elements, describing elements according to both atomic weight and valence.

Discovery of gallium confirms his predictions

1875

Some dismissed Mendeleev for predicting more elements, but he was proven correct when gallium was discovered in 1875, fitting perfectly into one of the missing spaces in his periodic table.

Image source: Gallium

Discovery of gallium confirms his predictions

Davy Medal from the Royal Society

1882

Though widely honored by scientific organizations all over Europe, including the Davy Medal from the Royal Society of London in 1882, Mendeleev later resigned from Saint Petersburg University on 17 August 1890.

Image source: Davy Medal

Davy Medal from the Royal Society

Discovery of germanium further validates the periodic law

1886

The discovery of germanium in 1886 fit perfectly into another missing space predicted by Mendeleev's periodic table, further confirming the validity of his periodic law.

Image source: Germanium

Discovery of germanium further validates the periodic law

Honorary membership of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society

1889

In 1889, Mendeleev was elected as an honorary member of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. In 1890, he resigned his professorship at St. Petersburg University.

Image source: Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society

Honorary membership of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society

Election as Foreign Member of the Royal Society

1892

Mendeleev was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1892.

Image source: Royal Society

Election as Foreign Member of the Royal Society

Copley Medal awarded

1905

The Royal Society of London, which had awarded Mendeleev the Davy Medal in 1882, also awarded him the Copley Medal in 1905.

Image source: Copley Medal

Copley Medal awarded

Election to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Nobel nominations

1905 - 1907

Mendeleev was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1905 and received three nominations. In 1906 he received four nominations and the Nobel Committee recommended awarding him the prize, but Svante Arrhenius pressed for rejection, arguing the periodic system was too old to acknowledge in 1906. His two nominations in 1907 were again frustrated by Arrhenius's absolute opposition. In total he received 9 nominations over the last three years of his life.

Image source: Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Election to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Nobel nominations

Later Life and Legacy

Support for tariffs fostering Russian industry

1891

Although not well-grounded in economics, Mendeleev had observed industry throughout his European travels, and in 1891 helped convince the Ministry of Finance to impose temporary tariffs aimed at fostering Russian infant industries.

Appointment as director of the Bureau of Weights and Measures

1893

Mendeleev organized its manufacture in 1892, headed the Archive of Weights and Measures in Saint Petersburg, and evolved it into a government bureau the following year. In 1893 he was appointed director of the Bureau of Weights and Measures, a post he occupied until his death, leading efforts to standardize fundamental prototypes and measurement procedures.

Death of Dmitri Mendeleev

Feb 2, 1907

In 1907, Mendeleev died at the age of 72 in Saint Petersburg from influenza.

Legacy and Honors

Vodka standardization myth

1894

Russian Standard vodka advertises that Mendeleev set the Imperial quality standard for Russian vodka in 1894. In fact, the 40% standard had already been introduced by the Russian government in 1843, and his dissertation only discussed medical-strength alcohol concentrations over 70%; he never wrote anything about vodka.

Image source: Russian Standard (vodka)

Vodka standardization myth

Publication of Family Chronicles

1908

In 1908, shortly after Mendeleev's death, one of his nieces published Family Chronicles.

Mendeleev Golden Medal established

1965

The Russian Academy of Sciences has occasionally awarded a Mendeleev Golden Medal since 1965.

Image source: Dmitri Mendeleev

Mendeleev Golden Medal established

Naming of mendeleevite-Ce

2010

The mineral mendeleevite-Ce, Cs6(Ce22Ca6)(Si70O175)(OH,F)14(H2O)21, was named in Mendeleev's honor in 2010.

Description of mendeleevite-Nd

2015

The related species mendeleevite-Nd, Cs6[(Nd,REE)23Ca7](Si70O175)(OH,F)19(H2O)16, was described in 2015.

Google doodle celebrates Mendeleev's 182nd birthday

Feb 8, 2016

On 8 February 2016, Mendeleev's 182nd birthday was celebrated with a Google doodle.

Image source: Google Doodle

Google doodle celebrates Mendeleev's 182nd birthday

Key Facts

  1. Dmitri Mendeleev was born on February 8, 1834, in Tobolsk, Siberia, Russia.
  2. In 1869, he published his first version of the periodic table, arranging the 63 known elements by atomic weight and chemical properties.
  3. Mendeleev famously left gaps in his periodic table and accurately predicted the existence and properties of undiscovered elements such as gallium, scandium, and germanium.
  4. He wrote 'Principles of Chemistry' (Osnovy Khimii), a landmark chemistry textbook published between 1868 and 1870 that helped establish his periodic law.
  5. Although he was a leading candidate, Mendeleev never won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry; he died on February 2, 1907, in Saint Petersburg.

Source

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