Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (russian: link=no, Влади́мир Ива́нович Верна́дский) or Volodymyr Ivanovych Vernadsky ( uk, Володи́мир Іва́нович Верна́дський; – 6 January 1945) was a Russian, Ukrainian and Soviet mineralogist and

geochemist Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the ...

who is considered one of the founders of

geochemistry Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the e ...

biogeochemistry Biogeochemistry is the scientific discipline that involves the study of the chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes and reactions that govern the composition of the natural environment (including the biosphere, the cryosphere, t ...

, and

radiogeology Radiometric dating, radioactive dating or radioisotope dating is a technique which is used to date materials such as rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurities were selectively incorporated when they were formed. The method compares t ...

. He was one of the founders and the first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (now

National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; uk, Національна академія наук України, ''Natsional’na akademiya nauk Ukrayiny'', abbr: NAN Ukraine) is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine th ...

). Vladimir Vernadsky is most noted for his 1926 book ''The Biosphere'' in which he inadvertently worked to popularize Eduard Suess' 1885 term biosphere, by hypothesizing that life is the geological force that shapes the earth. In 1943 he was awarded the Stalin Prize. Vernadsky's portrait is depicted on the Ukrainian ₴1,000

hryvnia banknote In Ukraine's history, banknotes denominated in Ukrainian hryvnias (; ISO 4217 code: UAH, symbol: ₴) have been issued during two periods. The first of them took place in 1918 and 1919, when the Central Council of Ukraine decided to transition fr ...

Early life

Vernadsky was born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, on in the family of the native

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

residents Russian Imperial economist Ivan Vernadsky and music instructor Anna Konstantinovich. According to family legend, his father's ancestors were

Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks, Zaporozhian Cossack Army, Zaporozhian Host, (, or uk, Військо Запорізьке, translit=Viisko Zaporizke, translit-std=ungegn, label=none) or simply Zaporozhians ( uk, Запорожці, translit=Zaporoz ...

. Ivan Vernadsky had been a professor of

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

at the St. Vladimir University before moving to Saint Petersburg; then he was an Active State Councillor and worked in the Governing Senate in St. Petersburg. Vladimir's mother was a Russian noblewoman of Ukrainian Cossack descent. In 1868 his family relocated to

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

in 1885. As the position of mineralogist in

Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

was vacant, and Vasily Dokuchaev, a soil scientist, and

Alexey Pavlov Aleksey Petrovich Pavlov (russian: Алексей Петрович Павлов; , Moscow, Russian Empire 9 September 1929, Bad Tölz, Bavaria, Germany) was a Russian Imperial geologist and paleontologist, who made a significant contribution in th ...

, a geologist, had been teaching Mineralogy for a while, Vernadsky chose to enter Mineralogy. He wrote to his wife Nataliia on 20 June 1888 from Switzerland: In 1888–1890, he traveled through Europe, studying the museums of Paris and London, and worked in Munich and Paris. While trying to find a topic for his doctorate, he first went to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

to study under crystallographer Arcangelo Scacchi, who was

senile Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a Syndrome, set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negativ ...

by that time. Scacchi's condition led Vernadsky to go to Germany to study under

Paul Groth Paul Heinrich Ritter von Groth (23 June 1843 – 2 December 1927) was a German mineralogist. His most important contribution to science was his systematic classification of minerals based on their chemical compositions and crystal structures. Bi ...

, curator of minerals in the

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...

in Munich. Vernadsky learned to use Groth's modern equipment, which included a machine to study the optical, thermal,

elastic Elastic is a word often used to describe or identify certain types of elastomer, elastic used in garments or stretchable fabrics. Elastic may also refer to: Alternative name * Rubber band, ring-shaped band of rubber used to hold objects togeth ...

magnetic Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particle ...

and electrical properties of

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

s. He also gained access to the physics lab of

Leonhard Sohncke Leonhard Sohncke (22 February 1842 Halle – 1 November 1897 in Munich) was a German mathematician who classified the 65 space groups in which chiral crystal structures form, called Sohncke groups. He was a professor of physics at the Technische ...

(Direktor, , 1883–1886; Professor der Physik an der Technischen Hochschule München 1886–1897), who was studying

crystallisation Crystallization is the process by which solid forms, where the atoms or molecules are highly organized into a structure known as a crystal. Some ways by which crystals form are precipitating from a solution, freezing, or more rarely deposi ...

during that period. In his childhood, his father had a huge influence on his development, he very carefully and consistently engaged in the upbringing and education of his son. It was he who instilled in Volodymyr interest and love for the Ukrainian people, their history and culture. The future scientist recalled that before moving from Kharkiv to St. Petersburg, he and his father were abroad and in Milan, they read about a circular in Petro Lavrov's newspaper "Forward" that forbade printing in Ukrainian in Russia. In his memoirs, he wrote: In St. Petersburg, a 15-year-old boy noted in his diary on March 29, 1878:

Political activities

Vernadsky participated in the First General Congress of the

zemstvo A ''zemstvo'' ( rus, земство, p=ˈzʲɛmstvə, plural ''zemstva'' – rus, земства) was an institution of local government set up during the great emancipation reform of 1861 carried out in Imperial Russia by Emperor Alexander ...

s, held in Petersburg on the eve of the

1905 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

to discuss how best to pressure the government to the needs of the Russian society; became a member of the liberal Constitutional Democratic Party (KD); and served in parliament, resigning to protest the

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

's proroguing of the Duma. He served as professor and later as vice rector of

Moscow University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

, from which he also resigned in 1911 in protest over the government's reactionary policies. Following the advent of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, his proposal for the establishment of the Commission for the Study of the Natural Productive Forces (KEPS) was adopted by the Imperial Academy of Sciences in February 1915. He published ''War and the Progress of Science'' where he stressed the importance of science as regards to its contribution to the war effort: :After the war of 1914–1915 we will have to make known and accountable the natural productive forces of our country, i.e. first of all to find means for broad scientific investigations of Russia’s nature and for the establishment of a network of well equipped research laboratories, museums and institutions ... This is no less necessary than the need for an improvement in the conditions of our civil and political life, which is so acutely perceived by the entire country. After the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

of 1917, he served on several commissions of agriculture and education of the provisional government, including as assistant minister of education. Vladimir Vernadsky belonged to the small group of ethnic Ukrainians who had dual "Russian – Ukrainian" identity and considered the Ukrainian culture as part of Russia imperial culture and even declined to become a Ukrainian citizen in 1918.

Scientific activities

Vernadsky first popularized the concept of the

noosphere The noosphere (alternate spelling noösphere) is a philosophical concept developed and popularized by the Russian-Ukrainian Soviet biogeochemist Vladimir Vernadsky, and the French philosopher and Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Vernads ...

and deepened the idea of the biosphere to the meaning largely recognized by today's scientific community. The word 'biosphere' was invented by Austrian geologist Eduard Suess, whom Vernadsky met in 1911. In Vernadsky's theory of the Earth's development, the noosphere is the third stage in the earth's development, after the geosphere (inanimate matter) and the biosphere (biological life). Just as the

emergence In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when an entity is observed to have properties its parts do not have on their own, properties or behaviors that emerge only when the parts interact in a wider whole. Emergence ...

of life fundamentally transformed the geosphere, the emergence of human

cognition Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

will fundamentally transform the biosphere. In this theory, the principles of both life and cognition are essential features of the Earth's

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

, and must have been implicit in the earth all along. This systemic and geological analysis of living systems complements

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

's theory of

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...

, which looks at each individual species, rather than at its relationship to a subsuming principle. Vernadsky's visionary pronouncements were not widely accepted in the West. However, he was one of the first scientists to recognize that the

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

and

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

in the Earth's atmosphere result from biological processes. During the 1920s he published works arguing that living organisms could reshape the planets as surely as any physical force. Vernadsky was an important pioneer of the scientific bases for the environmental sciences. Vernadsky was a member of the Russian and Soviet Academies of Sciences since 1912 and was a founder and first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in

, Ukraine (1918). He was a founder of the National Library of Ukrainian State and worked closely with the Tavrida University in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

. During the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

, he hosted gatherings of the young intellectuals who later founded the émigré Eurasianism movement. In the late 1930s and early 1940s Vernadsky played an early advisory role in the Soviet atomic bomb project, as one of the most forceful voices arguing for the exploitation of

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

, the surveying of Soviet

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

sources, and having

nuclear fission Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei. The fission process often produces gamma photons, and releases a very large amount of energy even by the energetic standards of radio ...

research conducted at his Radium Institute. He died, however, before a full project was pursued. On religious views, Vernadsky was an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. He was interested in

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

and

Rig Veda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Sh ...

. Vernadsky's son

George Vernadsky George Vernadsky (Russian: Гео́ргий Влади́мирович Верна́дский; August 20, 1887 – June 12, 1973) was a Russian Empire-born American historian and an author of numerous books on Russian history. European years ...

(1887–1973) emigrated to the United States where he published numerous books on medieval and modern Russian history. Vladimir Vernadsky with family 1908

The

National Library of Ukraine The Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, VNLU ( uk, Національна бібліотека України імені В.І. Вернадського) is the main academic library and main scientific information centre in Ukraine, one of t ...

, the Tavrida National University in

and many streets and avenues in Ukraine and Russia are named in honor of Vladimir Vernadsky.

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

sponsored an international scientific conference, "Globalistics-2013", at Moscow State University on 23–25 October 2013, in honor of Vernadsky's 150th birthday.

Family

* Father – Ivan Vernadsky, Russian Imperial economist * Mother – Аnna Konstantinovich, Russian music instructor * Wife – Nataliia Yegorovna Staritskaya (married in 1887 in

) * Son –

, American Russian historian, an author of numerous books on Russian history and philosophy * Daughter – Nina Toll, Doctor-psychiatrist

Legacy

* Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine is the main academic library in Ukraine * Ukrainian

Antarctic station Multiple governments have set up permanent research stations in Antarctica and these bases are widely distributed. Unlike the drifting ice stations set up in the Arctic, the research stations of the Antarctic are constructed either on rock or ...

Akademik Vernadsky *

Tavrida National V.I. Vernadsky University V.I. Vernadsky Taurida National University (TNU) ( uk, Таврійський національний університет імені В.І. Вернадського (ТНУ)) is a public, coeducational university currently located in Kyi ...

, university in

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, ...

* Vernadsky Institute of geochemistry and analytical chemistry, a research institution of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

Vernadsky State Geological Museum The Vernadsky State Geological Museum is the geological museum in Moscow. Mineralogical collection was founded in 1755 and is now an earth sciences and educational centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences. History Mikhail Lomonosov had studied mi ...

is the oldest museum in Moscow * Vernadsky Mountain Range is a mountains in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

and is an extension of the Gamburtsev Mountain Range. * Bulvar Akademika Vernadskoho (Academician Vernadsky Boulevard) is a street in

* Vulytsia Petra Zaporozhtsia (in 1961–1963 vulytsia Akademika Vernadsky) is a street in

* Vernadskiy (crater), a lunar crater * Vernadsky Medal awarded annually by the

International Association of GeoChemistry The IAGC (International Association of GeoChemistry, formerly known as the International Association of Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry) is affiliated with the International Union of Geological Sciences and has been one of the pre-eminent intern ...

* 2809 Vernadskij, an asteroid Vladimir I

On 25 October 2019 the National Bank of Ukraine put in circulation a ₴1,000

hryvnia The or ( ; uk, гривня , : ''hrn''; sign: ₴; code: UAH) has been the national currency of Ukraine since 2 September 1996. The hryvnia is divided into 100 . It is named after a measure of weight used in medieval Kievan Rus'. Name Etym ...

banknote with Vernadsky's portrait.Ukraine starts printing new 1,000-hryvnia banknotes

UNIAN The UNIAN or Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News ( uk, Українське Незалежне Інформаційне Агентство Новин, УНІАН, translit=Ukrayins'ke Nezalezhne Informatsiyne Ahentstvo Novyn) is a ...

(1 October 2019)

Selected works

*''Geochemistry'', published in Russian 1924 *''The Biosphere'', first published in Russian in 1926. English translations: **Oracle, AZ, Synergetic Press, 1986, , 86 pp. **tr. David B. Langmuir, ed. Mark A. S. McMenamin, New York, Copernicus, 1997, , 192 pp. *''Essays on Geochemistry & the Biosphere'', tr. Olga Barash, Santa Fe, NM, Synergetic Press, , 2006

Diaries

*''Dnevniki 1917–1921: oktyabr 1917-yanvar 1920'' (''Diaries 1917–1921''), Kyiv,

Naukova dumka Naukova Dumka ( uk, Наукова Думка — literally "scientific thought") is a publishing house in Kyiv, Ukraine. It was established by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 1922, largely owing to the efforts of Ahatanhel Krymsky ...

, 1994, , 269 pp. *''Dnevniki. Mart 1921-avgust 1925'' (''Diaries 1921–1925''), Moscow, Nauka, 1998, , 213 pp. *''Dnevniki 1926–1934'' (''Diaries 1926–1934''), Moscow, Nauka, 2001, , 455 pp. *''Dnevniki 1935–1941 v dvukh knigakh. Kniga 1, 1935–1938'' (''Diaries 1935–1941 in two volumes. Volume 1, 1935–1938''), Moscow, Nauka, 2006,,444 pp. *''Dnevniki 1935–1941 v dvukh knigakh. Kniga 2, 1939–1941'' (''Diaries 1935–1941. Volume 2, 1939–1941''), Moscow, Nauka, 2006, , 295 pp.

References

Bibliography

* *"Science and Russian Cultures in an Age of Revolutions" *

External links

The grave of Vernadsky
* Behrends, Thilo, ''The Renaissance of V.I. Vernadsky'', Newsletter of the Geochemical Society, #125, October 2005, http://www.geochemsoc.org/files/4813/4436/8118/gn125.pdf retrieved 27 April 2013

* Electronic archive of writings from and about Vernadsky (Russian) http://vernadsky.lib.ru/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Vernadsky, Vladimir Ivanovich 1863 births 1945 deaths Scientists from Saint Petersburg People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd Russian people of Ukrainian descent Presidents of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Russian Constitutional Democratic Party members Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Cosmists Soviet geochemists Ukrainian geochemists Russian geochemists Russian philosophers Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1917–1925) Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Ukrainian philosophers Russian atheists Russian biologists Russian mineralogists Stalin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 2nd class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class Russian expatriates in Ukraine Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Switzerland Privy Councillor (Russian Empire) Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Russian untitled nobility