Alexander Nikolayevich Engelhardt
Alexander Nikolayevich Engelhardt (Russian Александр Николаевич Энгельгардт; * 21 Julijul / August 2 1832greg on Good Klimowo near Smolensk, .. .. † 21 Januarjul / February 2 1893greg in the village Batischtschewo near Smolensk ) was one of the founders of agrochemicals in Russia.
Life
He was a member of the Baltic noble family Engelhardt, specifically a descendant of livländisch - German knight Robert Engelhardt, the under Ivan the Terrible in 1558 fell into Russian captivity, and later adopted the Orthodox faith and stayed in Russia. The family split into three branches, the St. Petersburg, Smolensk and Yaroslavl.
He attended from 1853, the Artillery Academy of Mikhailovskoie and was lieutenant of the Russian Imperial Guard Artillery. In the Crimean War ( 1853-56 ) he had proved to be an excellent officer. From 1855 he was at the new Arsenal in Saint Petersburg Head of the cannon foundry and chemical laboratories. At the local Alexander Lyceum he also taught chemistry. In 1865 he became professor of agricultural chemistry in the forestry corps Institute in St. Petersburg. In 1870 he was at the University of Kharkiv Dr. hc awarded.
He was publisher of the Populists. He joined the organization Zemlya i Volya ( Land and Freedom ). Due to spread of democratic ideas, the Tsar exiled him in 1871 Batischtschewo.
Here he had 618 desiatins ( each 1.1 ha) of land, including 88 desjatin farmland. In order to operate successfully on it, he had to take advantage of all known scientific methods. Within 15 years, he managed to double the income.
At the request of the satirist Mikhail Saltykov -Shchedrin, to describe the current situation in the Russian village, he published from the village. 12 letters from 1872 to 1887 that were launched several times ( during his exile 1896-99 ) was referring to Lenin in his first major work, The Development of Capitalism in Russia.
He came to believe that the need to change farmers and estates in principle after the elimination of serfdom. Important are smart managers and the creation of Artel economies. In order to keep losses small, it called for the processing of agricultural products at the village level rather than in distant factories.
His popular articles on agriculture, such as on chemical fertilizers, he published mostly in the journal Otetschestwennye Sapiski. He also translated Hofmann's Agricultural Chemistry.
Close relationship he maintained with Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky and Vasily Vasilievich Dokuchaev. Many of his ideas were further developed in the early 20th century. Among his pupils were AS Yermolov ( Deputy Minister of Agriculture) and PA Kostychev (second director of the Agriculture Department).
Publications
- Questions of Russian agriculture
- The chemical principles of agriculture
- The story of my Gutswirthschaft