One of the most unlikely success stories in the history of chemistry is that of Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev (also Mendeléev, Mendeleef and Mendeleeff). Mendeleev was born in Tobolsk in western Siberia on February 8, 1834. He was the youngest child in a family of either 14 or 17 children (records do not agree). His father, a teacher at the Tobolsk gymnasium (high school) lost his job after he became blind when Dmitry was still quite young. His mother tried to take over support of the family by building a glassworks in the nearby town of Axemziansk.

Mendeleev was only an average student. He learned science from a brother-in-law who had been exiled to Siberia because of revolutionary activities in Moscow. Dmitry completed high school at the age of 16, but only after the family had experienced more bad luck. His father died of tuberculosis and his mother's glassworks burned down.

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