Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, Saint Petersburg, Russia

A. G. Syrkov, Doctor of Engineering Sciences, Professor of the Department of General and Technical Physics, e-mail: Syrkov_AG@pers.spmi.ru
A. N. Kushchenko, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, Assistant of the Department of General and Technical Physics, e-mail: Kuschenko_AN@pers.spmi.ru
L. A. Yachmenova, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, Assistant of the Department of General and Technical Physics, e-mail: Yachmenova_LA@pers.spmi.ru
M. A. Bogopriimtseva, Student of the Department of Material Science and Technology of Art Products

165 years since the birth of Academician N. S. Kurnakov, 75 years since the birth of I. N. Beloglazov, professor at the Saint Petersburg Mining University.

The article is dedicated to the 165th anniversary of the birth of academician N. S. Kurnakov (1860–1941) and the achievements of his scientific school, including the works of his scholars and followers from the Beloglazovs dynasty. For the first time, the works of Konstantin F. Beloglazov (N. S. Kurnakov’s closest assistant) concerning the physical chemistry of surface phenomena and surface properties of minerals and of interest for the creation of nanostructured materials are analyzed. The scientific fate of K. F. Beloglazov (1887–1951) is compared with the scientific fate of Peter P. Weimarn (1879–1835), another famous scholar of academician Kurnakov. The expediency of such a comparison is dictated by the following. In the scientific literature there are indications that K. F. Beloglazov continued P. P. Weimarn’s unique research in the field of highly dispersed (colloidal) substances. They both were direct scholars of N. S. Kurnakov, belonged to almost the same generation. It is shown that the works of P. P. Weimarn on the production of solids of any degree of dispersity, “starting with molecular”, and K. F. Beloglazov’s research on the adsorption of substances and the mechanism of flotation made a significant contribution to the development of the scientific foundations of nanotechnology in the 21st century. Ilya N. Beloglazov (1950–2011), grandson of K. F. Beloglazov, in 2008 became the scientific Head of the Center for Nanotechnology at the St. Petersburg Mining Institute (now the University) and the most actively of the Beloglazovs-Thiemes dynasty continued research in the field of highly dispersed materials. His productive scientific and organizational activities in 2004–2011 allowed the Mining University to become a renowned center for the development of new nanostructured metal materials, including superhydrophobic ones. It is established that professor I. N. Beloglazov made a direct creative contribution to the victory of Mining University developments at international exhibitions (20 medals) and the publication of Russia’s first scientific monographs on nanotechnology and special issues on nanostructured metals in the Tsvetnye Metally and Non-Ferrous Metals journals.

Based on scientific literature and personal recollections.

The authors thank Associate professor M. V. Goncharova for providing archival materials on the Beloglazovs dynasty.

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