Voskresensky, Alexander Abramovich

The father of Alexander Abramovich (in 1809 - deacon ) died a priest in 1814 , leaving his mother, without any means, except for a small house, 2 sons and a daughter - youngsters.

In the local theological school and Tver seminary, orphans were accepted into the diocesan account. Kholshchevnikov, a teacher at a religious school in Torzhok and uncle Voskresensky, was the first to notice special talents in his nephew and insisted on further training for the future Russian scientist. Voskresensky graduated from the seminary first and among the few (with HH Tikhomandritsky) in 1832 he entered the Main Pedagogical Institute , which he graduated in 1836 with a gold medal. By decision of Count Uvarov, who planned to stop the influx of foreign professors into Russian universities, together with a group of the best graduates, he was sent for an internship at European universities to prepare for professorship.

A student of the outstanding Russian chemist Academician German Ivanovich Hess , a professor of chemistry at the Pedagogical Institute, A. A. Voskresensky studied the features of chemical research methods abroad at such advanced scientists of the time as Eilhard Mitcherlich , Heinrich Rose and Heinrich Gustav Magnus - in Berlin and Justus Liebig - in Giessen , whose laboratory in those years was the center for the study of organic (carbon) compounds.

Y. Liebig spoke of Voskresensky as one of the most talented among the whole mass of his students, who was given everything difficult with ease, who immediately chose the best path at a dubious crossroads, whom others loved and truly appreciated. ^[2]

In the Liebig laboratory in Giessen, Voskresensky becomes a student from a student who decides on the scientific issues of the time, and from 1838 (in Annalen d. Chemie und Pharmacie, later Liebigs Annalen), the list of articles “grandfathers of Russian chemists” begins. Here he published, for example, “the effect of sulfuric anhydride on an oily gas”, “the composition of quinic acid” and “the elemental composition of naphthalene ”, which until then was doubtful and important both for solving the issue of the atomic weight of carbon and for judgments on the composition of hydrocarbons poor in hydrogen, which are now called aromatic compounds.

Since 1838, he was an associate professor of chemistry at the Imperial St. Petersburg University and an inspector at the Main Pedagogical Institute.
In 1839, he received a doctorate (“philosophy”, as doctors of natural sciences were called then), writing an essay on quinic acid , which published his research on 1,4-quinone (the first quinone he received).
Since 1843 - professor.
Since 1864 - corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences .

Voskresensky discovered theobromine , an alkaloid similar to caffeine and found in cocoa (chocolate), and established its composition. Having obtained samples of then little known, Russian, especially Donetsk, hard coals, Voskresensky established their composition with full accuracy and showed that for any technical requirements there are found coals in Russia that are not inferior to anything foreign, but in some ways and superior to the best varieties of foreign coals. He participated in the discussion of questions about materials for completing the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral and for repairing the crack formed on the Alexander Column. Voskresensky contributed a lot with his knowledge to the successful outcome of these works. So, for example, the crack on the Alexander Column was stopped and closed with complete success, thanks to the instructions of the Voskresensky composition that should have been given to the closing mass. We should not forget that at that time they did not even think about synthetic adhesives, similar to those that appeared in the 20th century - this work, peculiarly linking his name with one of the main monuments of Russia, A.A. Voskresensky was imprinted in the history of the Fatherland. Voskresensky was a popularizer of the use of mineral fertilizers in Russia, emphasizing that they can be produced from domestic raw materials.

Having penetrated the main idea of ​​Count Uvarov, Voskresensky replaces Hess after his death, and tries, perhaps beyond measure, to satisfy all the requirements that apply to him as a new Russian chemist. He reads at the university, at the Pedagogical Institute, at the Institute of Railways, at the Academy of Engineering, at the Page Corps and at the School of Guard Ensigns , and holds these places until a host of fresh Russian forces have come to be able to replace him. The fruit of such intensive pedagogical activity is that many Russian chemists, which gave the Resurrection the nickname "grandfather of Russian chemists." To indicate what kind of love for work, what kind of a desire to develop chemical knowledge, and what basis of the original development of this knowledge in Russia inspired the reading of Voskresensky, it is enough to say that his students were HH Beketov , HH Sokolov , H. A. Menshutkin , A. R. Shulyachenko , P.P. Alekseev , D.I. Mendeleev and many others who have strengthened the importance of Russian chemists both in the scientific world of the whole world and in all parts of Russia and in many practical fields. Voskresensky and Zinin , his peer, have the honor of being the instigators of an independent Russian trend in chemistry.

Another feature of Voskresensky's pedagogical activity is important. As a student of Liebig, who carried out the ideas of Berzelius and his teacher in lectures and writings, Voskresensky always clearly saw that true knowledge cannot be limited by one-sidedness, therefore he demanded from his students to compare the thoughts and views of Berzelius and Liebig with the teachings of Dumas , Laurent and Gerard , then already speaking, but still far from gaining a dominant position in organic chemistry. Moreover, Voskresensky was always skeptical of the theory of dualism, considering it truly scientific that it is only possible to firmly follow the facts, which he learned and disassembled and taught a lot of his listeners.

From 1863 to 1867 he was elected rector of St. Petersburg University . Voskresensky’s rectorship was distinguished by the fact that he cared a lot about bringing into full order both the scientific composition of professors and the university’s exterior. The time of Voskresensky’s rectorship dates back to that era of St. Petersburg University, when the most Russian forces among professors accumulated in it and the number of students began to grow rapidly.

In 1867, Voskresensky was appointed trustee of the Kharkov school district, but did not stay long in this place, which he considered uncomfortable, especially due to the sympathies for realism that pervaded all his life activities. Returning to St. Petersburg, Voskresensky already avoided official places and devoted a lot of time to arranging in his estate “Mozhaytsevo” (Novotorzhye uyezd) a 2-class peasant school (now - the A. A. Voskresensky secondary school of general education ^[3] ), where he taught. There, on the bank of Tvertsa , on the Savior's Graveyard on the Bottom, he bequeathed to be buried by the Resurrection.

St. Anne of the 2nd degree (1853); St. Vladimir 2nd degree, St. Stanislav 2nd degree with the imperial crown (1857); a bronze medal in memory of the Crimean War; St. Anne of the 1st degree (1866), St. Vladimir of the 2nd degree (1870); Order of the White Eagle (1874).

Having collected a capital of 7,000 rubles, the Russian Chemical Society instituted a prize named after N.N. Zinin and A.A. Voskresensky, for the percentage of which it decided to award it for the best independent research in chemistry made in Russia and printed in Russian.

Alexander Abramovich Voskresensky rests on a graveyard in the village of Spas, Torzhoksky District, Tver Region . The inscription: “Grandfather of Russian chemistry” is carved on his monument-cross. ^[four]

• Voskresensky, Alexander Abramovich // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907. (Retrieved September 23, 2016)
• Bogatova T.V. Alexander Abramovich Voskresensky. 1808-1880. - M .: Nauka , 2011 .-- 312 p. - ( Scientific and biographical literature ). - ISBN 978-5-02-036678-7 .

• A. Woskresensky, Ueber das Theobromin, Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie , 1842 , 41 (1), 125-127.
• A. Woskresensky, Ueber die Zusammensetzung des Naphtalins, Annalen der Pharmacie, 1838 , 26 (1), 66-69.
• Alex Woskresensky, Ueber die Einwirkung der wasserfreien Schwefelsäure aus das ölbildende Gas, Annalen der Pharmacie , 1838 , 25 (2), 113-115.