The «D.I. Mendeleev’s Periodic System of the Elements» Mural Near the Mendeleev Institute for Metrology in Saint Petersburg: How Metrologists Celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the Scientist

Abstract

This article is timed to the celebration of the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements, declared by the UN and UNESCO in connection with the 150^th anniversary of the discovery by D. I. Mendeleev of the Periodic Law of Chemical Elements (1869). The article highlights the metrological activity of D. I. Mendeleev and tells about how in the scientific metrological center, he created the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures. Now the D.I. Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology (VNIIM) preserves the memory of the life and activities of the great Russian scientist and encyclopedist.

Based on the research carried out in the archives of St. Petersburg and the funds of Metrological Museum, the article for the first time details the history of the formation of the Mendeleev memorial complex on the territory of VNIIM. The contribution of the institute metrologists to the creation of such famous sights of St. Petersburg as the monument to D. I. Mendeleev (sculptor I. Ya. Ginzburg, 1932) and the mural (mosaic) «D. I. Mendeleev Periodic system of elements» (1935) on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the scientist is shown. All peripteries, related to the installation of the monument - table are described: a selection of options for the arrangement of elements, decoration, manufacturer and manufacturing techniques, coordination with various organizations, solving financing issues.