Dmitri Mendeleev was born in Siberia, but he worked for many years in the university in St Petersburg. His house and office here have been turned into a museum:
He was a man of many parts. To quote the museum guidebook, “The same individual who composed the Periodic System also battled local Spiritualists, created a smokeless gunpowder, attempted Artic exploration, consulted on oil development in Baku, investigated iron and coal deposits, published art criticism, flew in balloons, introduced the metric system, and much more.
Also, there is a story I hope is true, that he invented high alcohol vodka for Russia.
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Some things I see 