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The youngest, of at least, fourteen children, Dimitri Ivanovitch Mendeleev was born at Tobolsk, Siberia, on 7th February, 1834. His father, Ivan, was the director of the local gymnasium, and his mother, Marya, (born Marya Korniliev) came from a family that had introduced glass and paper making to Siberia. Ivan died when Dimitri was quite young and Marya had to return to work in order to support her family. Through family connections, she managed the Korniliev glass factory at Aremziansk.

Dimitri was educated at the gymnasium in Tobolsk, where he showed great interest in mathematics and physics. He also learned a lot about glass and glass blowing from the family factory. His brother-in-law, Bessargin, was also an influence in that he taught the young Mendeleev current science topics.

By the age of fourteen, Dimitri showed great scientific promise and his mother was determined that he should receive a good education. Her plans were thwarted when the glass factory was destroyed by fire.

The Mendeleev's left for Moscow, hoping that Dimitri could attend university there. This did not work out, and so the family moved on to St Petersburg, where Dimitri was allowed to enrol as a student science teacher, having been granted a full scholarship. He began his course in 1850.

Within a few months, Dimitri's mother, Marya and his sister had died from tuberculosis.

What did Mendeleev do next?

Despite this setback, Mendeleev continued his studies in St Petersburg. He made good progress until, in his third year of his course, he became ill which confined him to bed for a lengthy period. He was able to complete his course on time as his professors and fellow students visited him to help him keep his work on schedule.

He remained ill, and his doctor thought he had tuberculosis, with a poor prognosis for recovery. Dimitri moved to the Crimean Peninsula, where he taught at the...