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Birthday anniversary of Alexander E. Fersman, geochemist, mineralogist, academician of the Academy of Sciences of USSR
“Poet of the stone.”
A. N. Tolstoy
October 27 (November 8), 1883, in St. Petersburg was born Alexander Ye. Fersman, geochemist, mineralogist, academician of the Academy of Sciences of USSR.
Alexander Fersman’s father, Eugene, before entering military service studied architecture, was fond of history. His mother, Mary E. Kessler, was interested in natural science, was good at drawing.
The main "teacher of geology" for Alexander Fersman was the nature. The stones in Crimea, near Simferopol drew his attention. Fersmans went there in the summer to visit Alexander E. Kessler, chemist, brother of Mary.
Nobody taught young Fersman methods of geological research. But, forming the collection, he got interested in names, particularly of minerals, started to select them according to certain criteria. In his expeditions he acquired more and more geological skills. Naturally, he had a desire to study mineralogy. After graduating from high school in 1901, Alexander entered the Physics and Mathematics Department of the University of Novorossiysk and was very disappointed in mineralogy.
Popular, exciting books on geology that he read earlier had nothing to do with the content of textbooks and lectures: extensive and boring, monotonous rich descriptions of physical and chemical properties of each mineral. But it turned out that the problem was in teaching. Continuing his education at Moscow University, Fersman could not but love the wonderful lectures of V. I. Vernadsky, who later had a strong influence on his scientific views. Fersman begins to think unconventionally: mineralogist should work not only in the laboratory, but also is obliged to study minerals in nature.
At Moscow University Alexander Fersman became a geologist. In 1904, he published his first scientific paper on the properties of crystals of some organic compounds. Young scientist made mineralogical tours to Ukraine and Crimea. Then he was sent for training in Germany. In the summer of 1912, Alexander worked in the Southern Urals, studying gems in natural surroundings.
Neither could Fersman avoid Transbaikalia, which had long been renowned for unique gems. He had repeatedly been there; examined and studied the deposits, and then described them in his books. Alexander Fersman first visited Baikal in 1915. His attention was attracted by deposits of gems in Borshchovochny ridge. In Chita he arrived with a geologist K. F. Yegorov. There he met a famous scientist S. D. Kuznetsov, who accompanied them to the mines near the village of Savvateevo.
After that, there was an expedition to the headwaters of rivers Hillock, Chikoy, Chikokon, along the very border with Mongolia. The remaining time was devoted to study zeolites near the villages of Utochkino and Kunaley, as well as molybdenites in Gutaysky deposit. According to the results of the expedition, "The summary of mineralogical expedition to Selenginsk Dauriya" was compiled.
Later Fersman visited Baikal in 1923 and 1926; in 1929, he visited the largest mine of gems in the area - Sherlova Mountain, from where he proceeded to Nerchinsk and farther to the resort Shivanda. In 1931, Alexander participated in the first Regional Congress for the Study of Productive Forces of Eastern Siberia, which was held in Irkutsk.
In his scientific works and popular science books, Alexander Fersman paid a lot of attention to Transbaikal: "Transbaikal is the country of the future, and it will take less than a few decades for this region to be revitalized by a major mining, and the love of gems and colored stones will rose again."
Alexander E. Fersman died May 20, 1945 in Sochi.
The name of Alexander Fersman is widely known in Russia. He had won universal recognition not only as an outstanding scientist in the field of mineralogy and geochemistry, as a geographer and traveler, but also as a promoter of unrivaled knowledge. Fersman’s "Entertaining mineralogy" is one of the most fascinating books in the field of geology.
Major works of the academician: Materials for the study of palygorskite group (1908); Studies on magnesium silicates (St. Petersburg, 1913); Precious and colored stones of Russia (Vol. 1. Petrograd, 1920; Vol. 2. Leningrad, 1925); Chemical elements of Earth and Space (Petrograd, 1923); Pegmatites, their scientific and practical significance (1913); Geochemistry (Vol. 1-4. Leningrad, 1933-1939); Energy characteristic of geochemical processes (1935); Colors of metals (1936); Geochemical and mineralogical methods of searches of minerals (Moscow, Leningrad, 1940); Minerals of the Kola Peninsula (modern state, analysis, forecast) (1941); Russian gems (Petrograd, 1921); Entertaining mineralogy (Moscow, 1928), Memoirs of a stone (Moscow, 1940).
Lit.: Балабанов В. Певец самоцветов // Забайкальский рабочий. 1983. 1 нояб.; Баландин Р. К. А. Е. Ферсман. М., 1982; Щербаков Д. И. А. Е. Ферсман и его путешествия. М., 1950; Юргенсон Г. А. Чтения памяти А. Е. Ферсмана // Забайкальский рабочий. 1972. 29 нояб.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Путеводитель по Хибинским тундрам / АН СССР ; [ред. изд. акад. А. Е. Ферсман]. Л., 1931;
Ферсман А. Е. Химические элементы земли и космоса. СПб., 1923.
Based on the material from the Pushkin Trans-Baikal Regional Universal Research Library