1765: The Russian Scientist Lomonosov – a Peer of Ruđer Bošković from Dubrovnik

The famous Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov died in St. Petersburg on this day in 1765.

He was very important for the development of science in Russia. Lomonosov Moscow State University has been named after him.

The main building of the university is 240 meters high and was the tallest skyscraper in Europe from 1953 to 1990.

Mikhail Lomonosov was born in 1711, which means that he was a contemporary of the famous scientists from Dubrovnik – Ruđer Bošković.

Indeed, Lomonosov was only six months younger than Bošković. The latter was born in Dubrovnik, and Lomonosov in the Russian village of Denisovka (later renamed Lomonosovo in his honor) near the city of Arhagelsk.

It is interesting that Lomonosov lived in Germany when he was about 20 years old. Specifically, he studied at the University of Marburg, in the area of Hesse.

Marburg is famous for its castle, known as Landgrafenschloss, because it was the residence of the former Landgraves of Hesse. Otherwise, Marburg is located about hundred kilometers north of Frankfurt.

It is interesting to note that Lomonosov and Elizabeth Christine were married in Germany. Elizabeth Christine was from Marburg, and her mother was Lomonosov`s landlady.

He had a great career as a physicist, astronomer and chemist after returning to Russia. Lomonosov associated with the Russian Empress Catherine II the Great (who was a German woman, like Elizabeth Christine).

Lomnonosov was studying astronomy when he concluded that the planet Venus has an atmosphere. The craters on the Moon and on the planet Mars have been named after him.

Lomonosov died at the age of 53. His tomb is located in St. Petersburg, at the same cemetery where Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky, and Karamzin were buried.