A. G. Doroshevsky

(Obituary)

On September 27, Privatdozent of Moscow University A. G. Doroshevsky, widely known for his works in the field of physical chemistry, died suddenly.

A. G. Doroshevsky was born in 1868. After graduating from the Elisavetgrad gymnasium, A. G. entered Novorossiisk University, where he worked in chemistry under N. D. Zelinsky. Together with the latter, A. G., after completing university, moved to Moscow, where until 1903 he was first an assistant and then Privatdozent of Moscow University. In 1903 he took charge of the Moscow Central Chemical Laboratory of the Ministry of Finance. In this laboratory the deceased engaged in both technical and purely scientific investigations up to his death.

A. G. Doroshevsky’s research in the field of physical chemistry falls into two groups.

The first group comprises the very numerous determinations of various physicochemical properties of aqueous-alcoholic solutions (specific gravities, refractive indices, heat capacities, electrical conductivities, etc.); all these properties had repeatedly been determined by various scientists over the course of 50–100 years, but in many cases the available data constituted a chaotic mass of material, the use of which was almost impossible. The chief merit of A. G. Doroshevsky consists in the fact that, having redetermined all the indicated properties of aqueous-alcoholic solutions with enormous care and relying on his own experimental material, he carried out a colossal work of recalculating and bringing the literature material into order. These studies were collected by the deceased in two books: Investigation in the Field of Aqueous-Alcoholic Solutions and Physicochemical Properties of Aqueous-Alcoholic Solutions. The latter book was adapted for laboratory use.

To the second group of A. G. Doroshevsky’s physicochemical investigations belong his far from completed studies on the question of the distribution of a solvent between dissolved substances. Anton Grigorievich succeeded in proving that the solvent is distributed between dissolved substances in proportion to their quantities, thanks to which, if the properties of the solutions of each of the substances separately are known, it is always possible simply to calculate the properties of the solution of two substances. These investigations had in part already been published, and in part were being prepared for print.

Alongside purely scientific research, A. G. Doroshevsky had to devote much time and energy ex officio to technical problems. Thus, in peacetime, under his direction and with his direct participation, questions of chemical correction of waters intended for various purposes were developed (this includes an interesting question on correcting water by means of zeolites, on the rectification of alcohol, on silicates, etc.). It is worth noting the deceased’s very valuable work devoted to the technical applications of alcohol: Technical Applications of Alcohol and Denaturation. But A. G. Doroshevsky had especially much work to do on tasks that arose during the war for military-sanitary purposes.

By order of the former Administration of the Supreme Chief of the Sanitary and Evacuation Section (Prince Oldenburg), the Central Chemical Laboratory of the Ministry of Finance, headed by A. G. Doroshevsky, undertook the development and practical implementation of a whole series of chemical productions, in addition to numerous analytical and literary works (the preparation of technical specifications for the supply of materials and the compilation of instructions for testing them¹).

Already in 1916 two large plants began operating, an urotropine plant and a formalin–lozenge plant; their daily output was measured in poods, and their annual turnover exceeded a million rubles. A number of other productions had been worked out in detail in the laboratory, but the revolution that broke out and the terrible decline in labor productivity caused by it have up to the present delayed the final practical implementation of the productions developed by A. G. Doroshevsky. The recent events have ended—

¹ These technical specifications and instructions were issued in the form of five brochures by the Administration of the Supreme Chief of the Sanitary and Evacuation Section.

...finally undermined Anton Grigorievich’s health and brought him prematurely to the grave.

In the person of A. G. Doroshevsky there has died one of the very few Russian scholars who devoted his life to the most exact physicochemical measurements; a scholar of immense erudition in various fields of chemistry, an excellent teacher, and a sensitive man, responsive to grief. Sit tibi terra levis!

A. Rakovsky.