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Bull. Hist. Chem., VOLUME 27, Number 1 (2002)
abroad studying chemistry, had attended lectures by fa-
mous chemists, had worked in chemistry laboratories,
and had published two chemistry articles. Note that this
petition mentions only the field of chemistry and includes
nothing about technology. The Ministry quickly gave
him its approval to remain in St. Petersburg while com-
pleting the requirements for the doctoral degree, but also
requested that he “hurry” in order to minimize the
amount of time spent there (24). Zinin then requested
permission from St. Petersburg University to begin the
examinations for the doctoral degree (25).
At the same time, Curator Musin-Pushkin wrote
from Kazan’ to the Ministry of Education, stating that
he approved Zinin’s request, believing that “through an
examination in the capital Mr. Zinin can prove that he
satisfactorily made use of the time he spent abroad.”
However, the curator also requested that Zinin remain
in St. Petersburg only for the short amount of time nec-
essary to pass the examinations for the doctoral degree:
“The writing of the dissertation . . . the review of it, and,
finally, the defense may better be conducted here
[Kazan’], where meanwhile he would be very useful for
presenting lectures in the kafedra of technology, which
has remained unfilled for such a long time” (26).
Zinin successfully completed both oral and written
examinations in chemistry and several other subjects by
early November and then quickly turned to writing his
dissertation (27). This dissertation, “About the Benzoyl
Series and about the Discoveries of New Bodies Relat-
ing to This Series,” was completed by the end of No-
vember; but he was not able to defend it until the end of
January 1841 because of a delay in the readers’ reports
(28). The first part of the dissertation is a theoretical
discussion of organic compounds based on ideas about
complex radicals and the theory of types. Next, Zinin
examined the production of oil of bitter almonds from
amygdalin. By analogy, he asserted that the formation
of bitter almond oil occurred through the same type of
process as in the formation of oil from the seeds of black
mustard, thus supporting Liebig’s idea of “metamorpho-
sis” rather than Berzelius’ idea of catalysis (29). The
final part of the dissertation is a reworking of Zinin’s
two earlier papers.
In letters sent to Zinin and the Ministry of Educa-
tion during the months Zinin was in St. Petersburg, Cu-
rator Musin-Pushkin urged Zinin to return to Kazan’ as
soon as possible. However, Zinin was not eager to re-
turn. While finishing his doctoral dissertation, he learned
that the kafedra of chemistry at Khar’kov University
was vacant, and he wrote a petition to the Ministry of
Education, asking for an appointment to that position
instead of returning to Kazan’ University as professor
of technology. Zinin requested the move to Khar’kov
because he did not want to teach technology, as is clearly
shown in a letter from Curator Musin-Pushkin to the
Minister of Education on December 12, 1840 (30).
Musin-Pushkin noted that he was “astonished” to re-
ceive a letter from Zinin requesting permission to enter
the competition for the kafedra of chemistry at Khar’kov
University. The curator stated that, in this letter, Zinin
wrote that he “does not see any use in occupying the
kafedra of technology at Kazan’ University that was
intended for him.” In a letter to the Ministry, the cura-
tor strongly opposed losing Zinin to Khar’kov Univer-
sity (31). He argued that Zinin was sent abroad by
Kazan’ University for advanced training in both chem-
istry and technology, and he noted that the one-year ex-
tension was designed so that Zinin could concentrate
exclusively on technology. The curator emphasized how
much money Kazan’ University had spent on Zinin’s
education, in addition to the cost of his time abroad.
The Ministry supported the curator, and, thus, Zinin was
forced to return to Kazan’ in early1841 following the
defense of his dissertation in St. Petersburg.
Zinin remained at Kazan’ University until 1847
when he was appointed to the kafedra of chemistry and
physics at the Medical-Surgical Academy in St. Peters-
burg. Shortly after his return to Kazan’ University in
1841, Zinin was elected extraordinary professor (simi-
lar to associate professor) and in 1845 ordinary profes-
sor (similar to full professor) of technology. Despite
his official position as professor of technology, he spent
less time teaching technology than he did other areas of
chemistry although he was not able to teach organic
chemistry, the subject of his research. For example,
during the 1843-1844 academic year Zinin taught ana-
lytical chemistry for two hours per week and the “chem-
istry of living things” for two hours per week, while
teaching only two courses in technology for one hour
each per week. Klaus taught inorganic chemistry for
three hours per week and organic chemistry (“accord-
ing to Liebig”) also for three hours per week (32).
Perhaps more revealing about Zinin’s attitude to-
ward technology is his evident neglect of the technol-
ogy laboratory (33). As noted above, a new chemistry
laboratory had been built in the mid-1830s, and space
in this new building was provided for the technology
laboratory. However, Zinin did not devote much atten-
tion to equipping it. In 1844, the technology laboratory