Volume 27, Number 1



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30

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




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