Lomonosov M.V. (1711-1765), scientist, poet

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LOMONOSOV Mikhail Vasilievich (1711-1765), scientist, poet, enlightener. He came from a prosperous family based by the White Sea. In 1731-35 he studied in Moscow, from 1736 in the Academic University of St. Petersburg, from autumn 1736 until 1741 he studied abroad. From 1742 he had been a junior scientific assistant for a physics class; from 1745 he was a professor (academician) of chemistry in the Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1746 was the first person to lecture on physics in Russian at the Academic University. In 1748 he created the first Russian chemical laboratory (it was located in the so-called Botanic Garden of Academy of Sciences, close to the house where Lomonosov lived, - between the First and the Second Lines of Vasilievsky Island; not preserved). In 1753 on the initiative of Lomonosov a stained glass factory was founded in Ust-Ruditsa (it operated until 1768, there is a memorial obelisk at its location). In 1758 Lomonosov opened a mosaic workshop in St. Petersburg, where the Battle of Poltava panel was made under his guidance (1762-64; today in the building of the Academy of Sciences) and a number of mosaic portraits (in 1763 Lomonosov was elected an honorary member of Academy of Arts). From 1757 Lomonosov was an advisor for the Academy of Sciences Chancery; in 1758 he was charged with supervision over the Geographic Department, Historians Assembly, Academic University and Academic Gymnasium. Lomonosov wrote his major philological works in St. Petersburg: Short Guide for Eloquence (1748) - a general course on theory of literature; Russian Grammar (1757); Introduction to the Use of Church Books for Russian Language (1758), in which the use of three styles of Russian was explained concerning Standard Russian and Russian literary genres. By motivating theoretically syllabo-tonic system of versification Lomonosov as a poet was the creator of the Russian ode (the first sample - ode on the capture of Khotin, 1739, published in 1751), mainly of religious and philosophic content (Evening Thoughts About the Grandeur of God on the occasion of the Great Pole Star, 1743, published in 1748); he wrote satires, poems and tragedies in verse as well. According to Lomonosov's intention the first Russian scientific literary journal, Monthly Writings for Use and Amusement (it was issued in St. Petersburg from1755 to 1764). In his historical works Lomonosov highly valued the activities of Peter the Great, emphasising the importance of the foundation of St. Petersburg as an important stage in acquiring access to the Baltic Sea. From 1757 he had been living in his own house on the right bank of Moika River (it was reconstructed in 1843-45; memorial plaque on the house 61 along Bolshaya Morskaya Street). He was buried at Lazarevskoe Cemetery of Alexander Nevsky Lavra. In 1915 Barachevskaya Street in Rybatskoe Village (today within the limits of the city) was renamed Lomonosovskaya Street (in 1987 it was abolished). In 1948 Oranienbaum was renamed Lomonosov, Chernyshev Bridge, Chernyshev Square and Chernyshev Lane were renamed into Bridge, Square and Street of Lomonosov, Lomonosovskaya metro station and some industrial companies (including Lomonosov Porcelain Plant) were named after Lomonosov. In 1949 the Lomonosov Museum was opened in the building of Kunstkammer, where the scientist had worked from 1741 (memorial plaque). A bust of Lomonosov was installed on Lomonosov Square (1892, sculptor P.P. Zabello, architect A.S. Lytkin), a statue at Universitetskaya Embankment (1986, sculptor B.A. Petrov, V.D. Sveshnikov, architect E.A. Tyakht, I.A. Shakhov).

References: Лихоткнн Г. А. Ломоносов в Петербурге. Л., 1981; Белявский М. Т. ...Все испытал и все проник. 2-е изд. М., 1986; Ломоносов: Краткий энциклопедич. словарь. СПб., 1999; Судьба мемориального наследия М. В. Ломоносова // Петербургская Академия наук в истории академий мира: Материалы междунар. конференции. СПб., 1999. Т. 3.

O. N. Ansberg. Lomonosov Mikhail Vasilievich
Lytkin Anton Sergeevich
Peter I, Emperor
Peter II, Emperor
Petrov Boris Anatolievich
Shakhov Igor Alexandrovich
Sveshnikov Valentin Dmitrievich
Tyakht Eduard Alexandrovich
Zabello Parmen Petrovich
1st Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city
2nd Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city
Bolshaya Morskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 61
Lomonosova Square/Saint Petersburg, city
Lomonosova St./Saint Petersburg, city
Universitetskaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city
Лихоткин Г. А. Ломоносов в Петербурге. Л., 1981
Судьба мемориального наследия М.В. Ломоносова // Петербургская Академия наук в истории академий мира: Материалы междунарю конф. СПб., 1999
Ломоносов: Крат. энцикл. слов. СПб., 1999
Белявский М.Т. ... Все испытал и все проник. 2-е изд. М., 1986 Russian Academy of Sciences
Academy of Arts
Ezhemesyachnye Sochineniya, k polze i uveseleniyu sluzhashchie, (Monthly Entertainment for benefit a
Lazarevskaya Burial Vault
Lomonosov Porcelain Factory
M. V. Lomonosov Museum
1741
1748
1758
1764
1765
1892
1986