Editing Vladimir Vernadsky (section)

==Early life==
[[File:1889-VernadskyVI-Paris.jpg|thumb|left|Vladimir Vernadsky, Paris 1889]]
Vernadsky was born in [[Saint Petersburg]], [[Russian Empire]], on {{OldStyleDate|12 March|1863|28 February}} in the family of the native [[Kyiv]] residents Russian Imperial economist Ivan Vernadsky and Anna Konstantinovich, who came from an old Russia noble family.{{sfn|Гумилевский|1988|с=}}{{full citation needed|date=May 2024}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sgm.ru/ABOUT/Rodoslovnaya.php|title=Родословная В. И. Вернадского|website=Государственный геологический музей им. В. И. Вернадского РАН|access-date=2022-10-06|archive-date=2022-10-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006001722/https://sgm.ru/ABOUT/Rodoslovnaya.php|url-status=live}}</ref> According to family legend, his father's ancestors were [[Zaporozhian Cossacks]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 February 2013 |script-title=uk:Книжкова виставка – «Життя, присвячене науці» – до 150-річчя від дня народження В. І. Вернадського (1863–1945) |trans-title=Book exhibition – "A life devoted to science" – the 150th anniversary of VI Vernadsky (1863–1945) |url=http://nplu.org/event.php?id=62 |access-date=17 May 2015 |publisher=Nplu.org |language=uk}}</ref> Ivan Vernadsky had been a professor of [[political economy]] in [[Kyiv]] at the [[Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv|St. Vladimir University]] before moving to Saint Petersburg; then he was an [[Active State Councillor]] and worked in the [[Governing Senate]] in St. Petersburg. Ivan was a Russian Imperial economist and editor of a censorship and serfdom opposed liberal journal and Anna Konstantinovic was a music instructor as well as a Russian noblewoman of Ukrainian Cossack descent.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last=Kauffman |first=George B. |date=November 1996 |title=Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863-1945), environmental pioneer: On the 70th anniversary of his Biosphere concept |url=https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA00382353_8260 |journal=Soulh African Journal of Science |volume=92 |pages=519–523}}</ref>''<ref name="ReferenceA">В.В. Томазов. Генеалогія В.І. Вернадського: походження та родинні зв'язки ''tr. V.V. Tomasov. Genealogy V.I. Vernadsky: a voyage of motherland''</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Родословная В. И. Вернадского |url=https://sgm.ru/ABOUT/Rodoslovnaya.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006001722/https://sgm.ru/ABOUT/Rodoslovnaya.php |archive-date=2022-10-06 |access-date=2022-10-06 |website=Государственный геологический музей им. В. И. Вернадского РАН}}</ref>''Vladimir's mother was a Russian noblewoman.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

In 1868 his family relocated to [[Kharkiv]], where he continued his education, and in 1873 he entered the Kharkiv provincial gymnasium.<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last=Kauffman |first=George B. |date=November 1996 |title=Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863-1945), environmental pioneer: On the 70th anniversary of his Biosphere concept |url=https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA00382353_8260 |journal=Soulh African Journal of Science |volume=92 |pages=519–523}}</ref> His father gifted scientific books that including [[On the Origin of Species|The Origin of Species]] by [[Charles Darwin]] and Cosmos by [[Alexander von Humboldt|Alexander Humboldt]], which was his introduction to early evolutionary theory in relation to nature.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last=Ghilarov |first=Alexej M. |date=1995 |title=Vernadsky's Biosphere Concept: An Historical Perspective |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3036242 |journal=The Quarterly Review of Biology |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=193–203 |doi=10.1086/418982 |jstor=3036242 |issn=0033-5770}}</ref> Along with the books, his uncle Evgraf Korolenko, a retired civil servant, mentored Vernadsky, taking him on long walks under the stars to discuss the earth and the cosmos. This introduction turned Vernadsky's attention from humanities to science.<ref name=":04">{{Cite journal |last=Kauffman |first=George B. |date=November 1996 |title=Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863-1945), environmental pioneer: On the 70th anniversary of his Biosphere concept |url=https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA00382353_8260 |journal=Soulh African Journal of Science |volume=92 |pages=519–523}}</ref>
Vernadsky graduated from [[Saint Petersburg State University]] in 1885. As the position of [[mineralogist]] in [[Saint Petersburg State University]] was vacant, and [[Vasily Dokuchaev]], a soil scientist, and [[Alexey Pavlov]], a geologist, had been teaching Mineralogy for a while, Vernadsky chose to enter Mineralogy.

He made the decision to fill this role because the proximity to his childhood home allowed him to care for his recently widowed mother.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Kautzleben |first1=Heinz |last2=Müller |first2=Axel |date=2014-12-01 |title=Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863–1945) — From mineral to noosphere |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0375674214000843 |journal=Journal of Geochemical Exploration |series=Vladimir I. Vernadsky (1863-1945): A tribute to the founder of geochemistry and biogeochemistry on the 150th anniversary of his birthday |volume=147 |pages=4–10 |doi=10.1016/j.gexplo.2014.02.020 |bibcode=2014JCExp.147....4K |issn=0375-6742}}</ref> This influenced Vernadsky's decision to specialize in minerology. Vernadsky went on to study as faculty at [[Saint Petersburg State University]] in the Physics-Mathematics program where he specialized in [[crystallography]] and [[mineralogy]].<ref name=":13"/> Vernadsky graduated from [[Saint Petersburg State University]] in 1885 with a thesis on isomorphous mixtures in minerals.<ref name=":05">{{Cite journal |last=Kauffman |first=George B. |date=November 1996 |title=Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863-1945), environmental pioneer: On the 70th anniversary of his Biosphere concept |url=https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA00382353_8260 |journal=Soulh African Journal of Science |volume=92 |pages=519–523}}</ref>

In 1886, Vernadsky married a woman named Natalya E. Staritskaya, although there is not much documented information on her as an individual.<ref name=":2" /> He wrote to his wife Nataliia on 20 June 1888 from Switzerland:{{blockquote|To collect facts for their own sake, as many now gather facts, without a program, without a question to answer or a purpose, is not interesting. However, there is a task which someday the human mind will solve, and which is extremely interesting. Minerals are remains of those chemical reactions which took place at various times on earth; these reactions take place according to laws which are not always known to us, but which, we are allowed to think, are closely tied to general changes which the earth has undergone as a planet. The task is to connect the various phases of changes undergone by the earth with the general laws of celestial mechanics.<ref>
{{Citation
| last = Tolz| first = Vera
| title = Russian Academicians and the Revolution: Combining Professionalism and Politics
| place = London, UK
| publisher = [[Palgrave Macmillan]]
| date = 1997
| page = 155
| isbn = 9781349258420}}
</ref>
}} In 1888–1890, he traveled through Europe, studying the museums of Paris and London, and worked in Munich and Paris.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Volodymyr Vernadsky, naturalist, philosopher, founder of geochemistry, biogeochemistry and radiogeology, was born; one of the founders and the first president of UAN |url=http://www.nbuv.gov.ua/node/4825|access-date=5 July 2022 |website=www.nbuv.gov.ua/}}</ref> During this time, he studied in Germany, France, England, Switzerland, and Italy and studying the museums of Paris and London, and worked in Munich and Paris.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Volodymyr Vernadsky, naturalist, philosopher, founder of geochemistry, biogeochemistry and radiogeology, was born; one of the founders and the first president of UAN |url=http://www.nbuv.gov.ua/node/4825 |access-date=5 July 2022 |website=www.nbuv.gov.ua/}}</ref><ref name=":06">{{Cite journal |last=Kauffman |first=George B. |date=November 1996 |title=Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863-1945), environmental pioneer: On the 70th anniversary of his Biosphere concept |url=https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA00382353_8260 |journal=Soulh African Journal of Science |volume=92 |pages=519–523}}</ref>  While abroad, he studied under [[Henry Louis Le Chatelier|Henry Le Chatelier]] , [[Paul Heinrich von Groth|Paul Von Groth]], and [[Ferdinand André Fouqué]], supporting his decision to focus his studies in crystallography and minerology.<ref name=":06" /> While trying to find a topic for his doctorate, he first went to [[Naples]] to study under [[crystallography|crystallographer]] [[Arcangelo Scacchi]], who was [[Dementia|senile]] by that time. Scacchi's condition led Vernadsky to go to Germany to study under [[Paul Heinrich von Groth|Paul Groth]], curator of minerals in the [[Deutsches Museum]] in Munich. Vernadsky learned to use Groth's modern equipment, which included a machine to study the [[optical]], [[Heat|thermal]], [[elastic (solid mechanics)|elastic]], [[magnetic]] and electrical properties of [[crystal]]s. He also gained access to the physics lab of [[Leonhard Sohncke]] (Direktor, {{Lang|de|Physikalisches Institut der Universität Jena|italic=no}}, 1883–1886; Professor der Physik an der Technischen Hochschule München 1886–1897), who was studying [[Crystallization|crystallisation]] during that period. In the year 1888, Vernadsky had the opportunity to attend the 4th [[International Geological Congress]] held in London before moving on to study under Fouqué and Chatelier in Paris.<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last1=Kautzleben |first1=Heinz |last2=Müller |first2=Axel |date=2014-12-01 |title=Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863–1945) — From mineral to noosphere |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0375674214000843 |journal=Journal of Geochemical Exploration |series=Vladimir I. Vernadsky (1863-1945): A tribute to the founder of geochemistry and biogeochemistry on the 150th anniversary of his birthday |volume=147 |pages=4–10 |doi=10.1016/j.gexplo.2014.02.020 |bibcode=2014JCExp.147....4K |issn=0375-6742}}</ref> In 1889, when [[Vasily Dokuchaev|Dokuchaev]] declined to attend, Vernadsky took over the World Exhibition in Paris on his behalf.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Shleeva |first1=M V |last2=Savenkova |first2=V M |date=2021-10-01 |title=V. I. Vernadsky and national museums of natural science |journal=IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science |volume=867 |issue=1 |pages=012127 |doi=10.1088/1755-1315/867/1/012127 |bibcode=2021E&ES..867a2127S |issn=1755-1307|doi-access=free }}</ref> His exhibit featured a display on Russian soils where he earned a gold medal for his organization and presentation.<ref name=":3" />

In his childhood, his father had a huge influence on his development, he very carefully and consistently engaged in the upbringing and education of his son. It was he who instilled in Volodymyr interest and love for the Ukrainian people, their history and culture. The future scientist recalled that before moving from Kharkiv to St. Petersburg, he and his father were abroad and in Milan, they read about a circular in [[Pyotr Lavrov]]'s newspaper "Forward" that forbade printing in Ukrainian in Russia. In his memoirs, he wrote:

{{Blockquote|''This made a huge impression on my father, and the conversations related to this had a strong effect on me at the time. My father told the history of Ukraine in a completely different way than it was taught in the gymnasium. He often mentioned that Petersburg was built on the bones of Ukrainians (Cossacks from Ivan Mazepa's regiments built Petersburg). After returning to St. Petersburg, I tried to familiarize myself with Ukrainian literature. In his father's library, he found scattered issues of Osnovy and other Ukrainian publications. Obtained Ukrainian books from second-hand booksellers, and received some from abroad. He asked his father in detail about Shevchenko, Kulish, Maksymovich, Kvitka-Osnovianenko, whom he knew personally, as well as about the Cyril-Methodiev brotherhood, about Kostomarov, etc.''}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://meest-online.com/history/figure/do-150-richnoho-yuvileyu-volodymyra-vernadskoho/ | title=До 150-річного ювілею Володимира Вернадського | work=Український тижневик Міст | date=7 March 2013 }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web | url=https://ogo.ua/articles/view/2013-03-12/38801.html | title=На купюрі 1000 гривень - вчений, який працював у Рівному! &#124; ОГО }}</ref>

In St. Petersburg, a 15-year-old boy noted in his diary on 29 March 1878:

{{Blockquote|''Ukrainians are terribly oppressed. Even in Austria, Drahomanov was not allowed to publish a newspaper in Ukrainian. In Russia, it is completely forbidden to print books in my native language. During the holidays, I will take care of her with all respect. In Kyiv, when a portrait of Shevchenko is seen in a house, it is taken away.''}} <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://biblioteka-zosh-s-bilogolovi.webnode.com.ua/novini/vernadskij-v-%D1%96-/|title=Вернадський В. І. :: Шкільна бібліотека с.Білоголови|website=biblioteka-zosh-s-bilogolovi.webnode.com.ua}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://twitter.com/history_ukraine/status/1237861113422700544 | access-date=2023-12-22 | title=History Ukraine on X}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://chornomorka.com/archive/21398/a-2209.html | title="Наша українська Наука, наша рідна Академія Наук!" }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://osvita.ua/vnz/reports/biolog/23548/ | title=Духовний світ Вернадського та Україна. Реферат | date=3 September 2011 }}</ref><ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite web| url=https://lib.iitta.gov.ua/912/1/%D0%94%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B2i%D0%B4%D1%8C_%D0%9Ai%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%BE.pdf | access-date=2023-12-22 | title=Доповiдь_Кiльченко | language=uk}}</ref>