Mikhail Lomonosov can be called a real Russian self-made genius. Having left his native land with a "fish train", he became a prominent mathematician, chemist, physicist and poet. Like any genius, he left us a lot of mysteries.
Was he a Pomor?
The biographer who first made Lomonosov a “Pomor” was the Russian historian Vladimir Lamansky. Subsequent generations of historians diligently "retold" this and his other provisions.
In none of the biographies written before Lamansky's work in 1863, neither the scientist nor his relatives are called "Pomors": not in the preface to "Ode to the Death of Lomonosov" written by the idolized scientist Count Shuvalov, nor in an article by the enlightener and publisher Nikolai Novikov nor in the stories of fellow countrymen recorded by Mikhail Muravyov.
No historical documents have survived in which Lomonosov himself called himself a "Pomor".
During interrogation in the synodal government in September 1734, Lomonosov reports the following about his origin: “By birth, he, Mikhailo of the Arkhangelsk province of the Dvinsky district of the palace Kurostrovskaya village of the peasant Vasily Dorofeev’s son, and that his father is still found in that village with other peasants and is included in the capitation salary”.
The absence of Lomonosov as a "Pomor" during the life of the scientist and in his posthumous biographies can be explained by the fact that in those days the inhabitants of completely different regions of the White Sea - the western White Sea region - were called Pomors. Until the 19th century, the inhabitants of the eastern White Sea did not call themselves and did not define themselves as “Pomors”.
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How did you get out of serfdom?
Georgy Plekhanov's widespread and often quoted today that the Arkhangelsk peasant became great and reasonable not only by the will of God and his own, but also because he was a "Pomor peasant who did not wear a serf collar" raises doubts.
The absence of serfdom in the Russian North agrees little with the well-known fact from the biography of Lomonosov: to "escape" to Moscow, the future scientist corrected his passport, and when the document expired, he was listed as a fugitive.
If serfdom is defined as a universal and ubiquitous state regime that restricts the movement of the population in order to properly collect taxes, then serfdom did exist in the Russian North.
When Lomonosov decided to go to Moscow, he was given a passport: in the 17th-19th centuries, a person was issued a passport when he left his settlement. When I came back, the document was given. Lomonosov's passport was valid until mid-1731, and, as we know, he never returned.
Until Lomonosov was awarded the title of nobility in 1747, he was considered a fugitive peasant and lived with an expired passport. For sixteen years, his fellow villagers paid for Lomonosov, who was entered into the palace, and was listed in the Academy of Sciences, and wrote poetry to Empress Elizabeth, one and a half ruble duty per year. It was a lot of money for the village.
The royal son?
The hypothesis that the true father of the scientist was Peter the Great, appeared during Lomonosov's lifetime. Someone wants to believe in her even today: well, the son of a peasant could not enter the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, where the sons of noblemen and priests studied, could not make “such a career” and get a title of nobility without an influential patron.
To confirm the royal blood, the facts "are attracted": Peter the Great was in the North and as a simple carpenter worked at the Bazhenov shipyard, which was located near Kuroostrov.
True, most researchers unconditionally reject the connection between these facts: nine months before Lomonosov was born, Peter was very far from the northern borders of the empire, so he simply could not physically contribute to the birth of a “son”.
Another argument is the "violent" character of the scientist, whose behavior is often compared to the antics of the "father". Indeed, Lomonosov did not seek to “smooth corners” or select euphemisms, he said what he thought, proving his conclusions in practice. Of course, he was the “son” of the great “father”: like a parent, he quenched his thirst for knowledge, worked 24 hours a day, was not afraid to break stereotypes, proving that “the Russian land can give birth to its own Newtons”.
The insane version of Lomonosov's extraterrestrial origin - allegedly the Russian scientist was the son of aliens - is hardly worthy of discussion at all. It is exaggerated by those who do not believe that "illiterate" parents could have a son endowed with such an outstanding mind. History, however, irrefutably proves that such a case is not unique: the parents of Newton, Feynman, Landau, Faraday, and many others did not shine with special talents.
Was it a "walker"?
The main woman in Lomonosov's life was undoubtedly his wife - the daughter of a German brewer, whom he met while studying at the University of Marburg.
By the time 19-year-old Elizaveta Tsilkh gave birth to a daughter, Lomonosov was no longer in the country.
He asked his wife to wait for a call to Russia, but two years later “neither wife nor widow” sought out her husband through the embassy and soon arrived in Russia. The news that Lomonosov was the head of the family made a lot of noise: everyone around him considered him a bachelor.
The opinion that Lomonosov was trying to "evade responsibility" is easily shaken. First, a Russian student was obliged to receive a "blessing" for a wedding with a German woman at the Academy of Sciences. Lomonosov did not have such permission, hence his silence. Secondly, Lomonosov's entire subsequent married life proves, if not love, then excessive respect for his wife.
The 20-year marriage proceeded, according to Lomonosov's own definition, "in unanimity." All speculations about the profligacy of a scientist are not only untenable, but also offensive. It is known that Lomonosov died in the arms of his wife and daughter. Elizaveta Andreevna survived her husband by only a year and a half.
Lomonosov and alchemy
It is known that after returning to his homeland in 1741, Lomonosov began experimental research in the field of chemistry. There are very few materials that would characterize the scientific activity of the scientist in the 40s - and this partly allowed the hypothesis that Lomonosov was a passionate "admirer" of alchemy.
If you recall a small poem by Sumarokov, in which he hints at the scientist's alchemy studies - Lomonosov extracts gold from milk - the hypothesis acquires an illusory confirmation.
Let us assume that Lomonosov was familiar with alchemy, but this knowledge was necessary for him in order to deal with the main business of life - chemistry, and as a result not only refute the heritage of alchemy and iatrochemistry, but also form a new fundamental science - physical chemistry.
They are trying to prove Lomonosov's enthusiasm for alchemy with a fascinating story, which is based on the hypothesis that the scientist's whole life was aimed at deciphering the scrolls with the texts of the sages of Hyperborea, which his father received from sorcerers-shamans.
Jacob, the writing resembled the records of medieval alchemists, and in the mysterious texts Lomonosov himself “guessed” the chemical formulas. When Lomonosov showed the scrolls to Christian Wolf, a professor at the University of Marburg, he threw up his hands: what he saw reminded him of the recipe for a philosopher's stone.
The professor said, “Leave it, my friend. This work is beyond your strength. But how could Lomonosov have stopped the search! Fans of fiction explain the discovery of solid mercury and other studies by the search for the philosopher's stone.
Shortly before his death, Lomonosov allegedly burned both his notes and the scrolls themselves. Well, this story, perhaps, deserves attention, but only if taken as a great metaphor.