Despite his avowed passion for the subject, Aleksandr Borodin is less known for his work in chemistry and primarily remembered as one of the brilliant Russian composers of the 19th century.
Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia on November 12, 1833, Aleksandr Borodin was the illegitimate son of the Imeretian prince Luka Gedianov and his mistress, Avdotya Antonova. Formally, he was registered as the son of Porfiry Borodin, one of Gedianov’s serfs, but the prince still provided generously for his son, allowing him to receive a comprehensive education from which he learned to speak German, French and English fluently. Even at an early age, Borodin showed interest in music and composition. He learned to play the piano, cello and flute, and when he was nine years old, he wrote his first piece entitled Hélène, a polka dedicated to a young girl with whom he was infatuated. In addition to his passion for music, he also showed an enthusiastic interest in science, particularly chemistry. With the guidance of his home tutors, Borodin filled his house with jars and containers of various liquids which he used in his experiments. The house often smelled of sulfur and other chemicals, and his mother lived in constant fear of a fire. Not all of his experiments were dangerous, however; Borodin would design and prepare his own watercolors to paint with, for example. Because of his broad education, Borodin was accepted into the Medico-Surgical Military Academy in Saint Petersburg at the age of 17.
Established in 1798, the Medico-Surgical Academy occupied an elite position within Russian higher education. Despite this, the chemistry department and its laboratory were badly organized. In 1847, Nikolay Zinin, a highly-educated scholar and adept teacher, joined the department and it was quickly improved. Once Borodin arrived at the academy, he began taking chemistry courses along with his medical courses. A quick study, Borodin easily became the best student in his class, consistently receiving high marks. Due to his curiosity and inquisitive nature, Borodin once contracted an infection from a cadaver while studying anatomy, becoming severely ill and only barely recovering. His chemistry courses were always his favorite, however, and in his third year at the academy he applied to work in the chemical laboratory under the mentorship of Zinin. At first, Zinin was doubtful of Borodin’s sincerity since he was a medical student, but he reluctantly accepted. Not long after beginning to work in the laboratory, Borodin quickly became Zinin’s favorite student, and later, his designated successor. Still passionate about composition, Borodin spent much of his free time attending concerts or playing music. Zinin disapproved of these activities, saying:
“Mr. Borodin, it would be better if you gave less thought to writing songs. I have placed all my hopes in you to be my successor one day. You waste too much time thinking about music. A man cannot serve two masters.”
Borodin graduated from the Academy in 1856 as first in his class with only one bad grade in a theology course. In October of that year, he began as an intern at the Second Military-Land Forces Hospital, however, due to his sensitive nature, Borodin was not very well-suited to practice medicine. One evening, six serfs were brought into the hospital with splinters in their backs from flogging; while attempting to remove them, Borodin fainted three times due to the sight of the blood and tattered flesh. Despite this, in September of 1856 he began completing examinations towards his doctoral degree in medicine, successfully completing each. During this time, he also met and befriended Modest Mussorgsky, a 17-year-old officer of the Preobrazhenskii Regiment who was employed at the hospital. Borodin recalled on this fondly, saying:
“Our first meeting was in the duty room. I was the duty doctor, he the duty officer. The room was commonplace; it was boring to both of us on duty. It is natural that we got into a conversation and became friends very rapidly because we were both effusive.”
Following his examinations, Borodin began work on his doctoral dissertation entitled On the Analogy of Arsenic Acid with Phosphoric Acid in Chemical and Toxicological Behavior. This was Borodin’s first serious scientific work, and on May 3, 1858, Borodin was awarded his doctoral degree after successfully defending it. Later, as he was commissioned by the Academy, Borodin spent some time in France and Germany for various medical conferences. During this trip, Borodin became familiar with some of the chemical laboratories of Western Europe, and upon his return, decided to devote himself entirely to his chemical studies and give up medical practice entirely. Borodin returned to the Academy and began to work in the chemistry department, giving some lectures. It was then that, in 1859, Borodin ran into Mussorgsky once again, who had grown up substantially since their time at the Second Military-Land Forces Hospital; a devoted pianist, Mussorgsky had given up his position in the military because “he was especially busy with music, and combining military service with art is a complicated matter.” This had a profound impact on Borodin, however, his newfound duties at the academy still kept him occupied and, for the most part, away from his music.
In order to gain the necessary experience for the post of assistant professor, Zinin and the Conference of the Medico-Surgical academy sent Borodin abroad for two years to prepare for his academic career in chemistry. On November 1, 1859, Borodin left Russia for Heidelberg, Germany. Originally, it was intended that he would work in the laboratory of Robert Bunsen, however, he found it more useful to work alongside Emil Erlenmeyer in his laboratory. At the same time as Borodin, several other prominent Russian chemists occupied Heidelberg, including Dmitri Mendeleev, Alexander Butlerov and Ivan Sechenov; this group became acquainted and united themselves in a society known as the “Heidelberg Circle.” Meeting frequently, the group of Russian scientists would discuss their research. Borodin noted:
“There are huge numbers of Russians here. The majority of them are young. They are capable people, especially in zoology. This is a good situation.”
Borodin did not like the German locals, however. In one of his letters to his mother, he wrote:
“The society of Germans is unbearable in the extreme. They are stiff and are horrible gossips. If you are in a home two or three days running where there are grown-up daughters and, good God preserve us, you play duets with them, believe me, then on the next day they will be talking about you as a fiancé.”
Despite this, Borodin flourished in this environment and pursued research on benzidine and its derivatives, a topic undoubtedly inspired by Zinin, whose work focused heavily on aromatic compounds. Borodin’s contributions to this subject shed some understanding on the mechanism of benzidine rearrangements; in addition, it also had some practical applications, since benzidine and its derivatives were used widely to produce organic dyes.
In 1860, the International Congress of Chemists was held in Karlsruhe, Germany. Until then, there had been several different explanations of and ideas about basic chemical concepts; the Congress set out to establish some basic rules. During the two days that the conference took place, ideas such as atomic weights, chemical notation and nomenclature were discussed. Zinin gave several lectures, and Mendeleev played an active role as a member of the committee; all of this greatly inspired Borodin and drew attention to Russian chemists. Following the Congress, Borodin returned to Heidelberg. During this time, Borodin focused very little on his music, as he felt lonely in his appreciation