Famous Russian Chemists

Aleksandr Borodin was a Russian musical composer. He was one of the popular 19th-century group of musicians known as The Five, who worked together to create a national style of classical music. A chemist and doctor by profession, Borodin also made important contributions to organic chemistry. His best known work as a chemist is his work pertaining to organic synthesis.

Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii was a photographer and chemist of the Russian Empire. Prokudin-Gorskii is remembered for his effort to capture early 20th-century Russia and his groundbreaking work in color photography. From 1909 to 1915, Prokudin-Gorskii traveled across the Russian Empire, documenting several of its aspects. After his death, many of his negatives were taken to the U.S. Library of Congress.

Marina Oswald is a Russian-born American pharmacist best known as the widow of Lee Harvey Oswald, who killed the 35th president of the USA, John F. Kennedy. She played a key role in the Warren Commission hearings where she testified against Oswald. Marina has been portrayed by many actresses in films like JFK and Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald.

Ilya Prigogine was a physical chemist remembered for his work on irreversibility, complex systems, and dissipative structures. A respected member of several scientific organizations, Prigogine was honored with the Francqui Prize in 1955. In 1976, he won the Rumford Medal for his work concerning irreversible thermodynamics. His work on irreversible thermodynamics earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1977.

Soviet physicist and chemist Nikolay Semyonov is most famous for his outstanding work on the mechanism of chemical transformation for which he received the 1956 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, together with Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood. Semyonov published two significant books namely Chemical Kinetics and Chain Reactions and Some Problems of Chemical Kinetics and Reactivity outlining his work.

 Russian chemist Vladimir Vasilyevich Markovnikov is best remembered for formulating the Markovnikov's rule or Markownikoff's rule, which elucidates the outcome of some addition reactions. His other contributions in the field of organic chemistry include finding carbon rings with over six carbon atoms and also displaying that although butyric and isobutyric acids have different structures, they have the same chemical formula (C4H8O2).

Initially a physician, Germain Henri Hess later focused on chemistry and eventually came up with the Hess's law of thermochemistry. The Swiss-born scientist had grown up and conducted his research in Russia, where his artist father worked. His book Fundamentals of Pure Chemistry was a staple text in Russia for years.

German-Russian chemist Karl Ernst Claus of Baltic-German ancestry is best remembered as the discoverer of the chemical element ruthenium. He discovered it while serving as a professor at Kazan State University and named it ruthenium in honour of his homeland Russia. Claus is also counted among the first scientists who applied quantitative methods in botany.

Russian chemist Alexander Butlerov is noted as one of the first chemists who developed the theory of chemical structure. He was the first to introduce double bonds in chemical notation. The concept of possible tetrahedral arrangement of valence bonds in carbon compounds was also first proposed by him. Other contributions of Butlerov include discovering hexamine, formaldehyde and formose reaction.

Russian-American chemist Vladimir Ipatieff is noted for making significant contributions in the field of petroleum chemistry and catalysts. He came to prominence for his works on catalysis methods under high pressure. He later worked with his students and made important contributions to organic synthesis and petroleum refining. Ipatieff discovered alternative fuel mixtures and methods, which considerably improved engine performance.

Russian chemist Gustav Heinrich Johann Apollon Tammann is remembered for his pioneering contribution to the study of metallurgy. He also laid down the first German Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at Göttingen University. While he won medals such as the Liebig Medal, the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann equation was named in his honor.

Chemist Friedrich Konrad Beilstein is best-remembered as the founder of Handbuch der organischen Chemie (Handbook of Organic Chemistry). The electronic database called Beilstein database, largest in the field of organic chemistry, was created from this handbook of Beilstein. The handbook’s first edition, compiled single-handedly by Beilstein, covered 1,500 compounds in 2,200 pages. Beilstein also developed the Beilstein test. 

Best remembered for inventing Polybutadiene, a form of synthetic rubber, Sergey Lebedev was associated with many reputed institutes, such as the St. Petersburg University. He also established the Laboratory for Petroleum Refining and led the Laboratory of Synthetic Rubber as its director. His several awards include the Order of Lenin.