M.V Lomonosov, our first university
Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov (8 (19) November 1711 - 4 (15) April 1765) was born in the village of Mishaninskaya, Arkhangelogorodskaya province, in a fairly wealthy family near the White Sea. Vasiliy Dorofeevich Lomonosov (his father) married Elena Sivkova (Lomonosov`s mother). Vasiliy Dorofeevich was a good man by nature, but his up-bringing was not perfect. Lomonosov`s mother died very early, when he was nine years old. In 1721, the father married Feodora Uskova, the daughter of a neighbouring farmer. In summer of 1724 she died. A few months later his father returned from the sea fishing and married for the third time. The widow Irina Semyonovna Korelskaya became his wife. For Lomonosov, who was thirteen years old, the third father's wife was “an evil and jealous stepmother”. Сhildhood of М.V. Lomonosov Lomonosov was impressed by great deeds of Peter the Great, which even now are known in the north. Mikhail Lomonosov was taught by the clerk of the local church S.N. Sabelnikov. He helped the villagers to write papers and petitions and also letters. Lomonosov understood the necessity of science and knowledge very early. "Grammar", "Arithmetics", "Psalm verses“ opened the “gates of learning” for the young Pomor . At fourteen he could write correctly and neatly. Life at home became miserable, full of constant quarrels with his stepmother. The best moments of the Lomonosov`s childhood were his trips to the sea with his father, which were very impressive for the young man. Lomonosov began helping his father at the age of ten. They went fishing in the early spring and returned in the late autumn. Together with his father, the future scientist went fishing to the White Sea and to the Solovki Islands. Those dangerous voyages hardened the boy`s physical strength and enriched his mind by a variety of observations. The nature of the Russian North is easily seen not only in the language of M.V. Lomonosov, but also in his research interests, such as "the questions of the Aurora Borealis, sea trips, sea ice, the reflection of marine life on the land”.