Gubkin Ivan Mikhailovich (1871-1939) was the first to systematize knowledge about geology in Russia, founded the domestic petroleum geology and scientific school. His fundamental work was "The Doctrine of Oil", in which the main provisions of the theory of the origin of oil deposits and the conditions for their formation were developed. Ivan Mikhailovich Gubkin proposed a justification for the possibility of developing new oil fields, and also led the study of the anomaly in Kursk.
Brilliant achievement of a scientist
The works of the scientist concerning the creation of an oil base in the region of the Volga and the Urals are endowed with important theoretical and practical meaning. In the early 1920s, Ivan Mikhailovich made a proposal for a mandatory detailed study of the geology of this area. His theories about the importance of this region were based on the scientific generalization of materials relating to the geological structure of this territory. Later, the academician headed the geological exploration for oil. Along with this, some deposits andGubkin Ivan Mikhailovich was personally engaged in their research. The fundamental work of the scientist called "Ural-Volga oil-bearing region" was created on the basis of the research activities. He clearly illustrated the huge opportunities and potential that could be unlocked by oil production in the places he indicated.
Before him, in terms of oil production, this region was practically not interested, and the work carried out later turned out to be extremely important for the Soviet Union in wartime.
Gubkin Ivan Mikhailovich: biography briefly
Ivan Mikhailovich was born in the village of Pozdnyakovo, on the territory of the Vladimir province. His father was a poor peasant who often went on long voyages to the Caspian Sea.
After diligent study and graduation from the Kirzhach teacher's seminary, Gubkin Ivan Mikhailovich was appointed to the position of teacher in a rural school. During the period of study, the young man received a scholarship, so he had to work without fail for five years as a public teacher. The fate of the future academician was determined by a chance find. Being a friend of the local priest, Ivan found literature on geology in his attic. She was forgotten by a relative of a priest who went to Siberia. According to Gubkin, what he read in the books literally "swallowed" him, making him crave even more information in this area.
Difficulties with entering college
Not wanting to stop halfway, Ivan sought to continue his studies at the Mining Institute. But he was in for a bitter disappointment,with his basic education, the path to the institute was closed. Only a teacher's institute in St. Petersburg was available, where he began to study.
At that time, it was difficult for any young person to stay away from the seething social life, so Ivan became a member of the movement that defended the rights of the working class.
After graduating from another educational institution, the young man managed to get a job as a teacher at the St. Petersburg City School. Having worked here quite a bit, Ivan Mikhailovich Gubkin went further: he again tried to enter the St. Petersburg Mining Institute and again failed. This time, the obstacle was the lack of a matriculation certificate, which was issued to graduates of gymnasiums and real schools. Ivan did not have it, since he did not belong to the noble or middle class. Not wanting to give up, Gubkin, who by that time was 32 years old, went to Tsarskoye Selo and, together with the young graduates of that year, successfully passed the necessary exams and received the coveted document.
Dream come true: Mining Institute
Ivan had to study at the Mining Institute not for five years (as it was supposed to), but for two years longer. The delay occurred due to the revolution in 1905: the doors of the institution were temporarily closed. After completing his long education, Gubkin Ivan Mikhailovich, with a diploma in mining engineering, joined the staff of the Geological Committee as a researcher. His career took off rapidly when the scientist becamework in places of oil production in the Caucasian fields. At that time, oil produced there accounted for almost 90% of the total volume received on Russian territory. This was Ivan Gubkin's finest hour, as his talents, perseverance and method showed themselves to the fullest, endowing the young engineer with the status of the founder of petroleum geology.
Revolutionary Times
At the time of the revolution, Ivan was in the United States on a business trip to explore American oil deposits. The scientist returned from his trip after the revolutionary events and immediately began to participate in the formation of new services under the established regime: mining and geological. V. I. Lenin instructed Gubkin to become a member of the commission of the committee dealing with oil production issues. After this definition, the geologist Ivan Mikhailovich Gubkin, until his last days, led several important institutions that were engaged in the field of the oil industry, as well as the geological service in the USSR.
Besides scientific activities, this outstanding figure had time to perform editorial duties. For many years, Ivan held this position in the Oil Industry magazine organized by him.
Sensational discovery
Staying in the south of Russia, in the Kuban region, Gubkin began to explore oil fields. As it turned out, the grain-growing region hid oil in its depths. However, there was an almost unsolvable mystery that the oilmen working there tried unsuccessfully to solve: nearby wellsbehaved completely differently. Some allowed huge amounts of oil to be produced, others were completely dead.
Ivan Gubkin revealed the reason for such behavior of oil deposits and introduced a new concept into the terminology of oil science. The scientist found that in this case, the industrialists were dealing with a new type of oil deposits. They were not located in a layer, like those that were discovered earlier, but were local, that is, they were very small areas. Gubkin called them "string deposits".
The scientist wrote several articles about his discovery, which were immediately published in Russia and then translated into English.
Educational activities of Ivan Gubkin
The scientist was extremely concerned about the issue of educating a new generation of qualified personnel. He believed that the country was in dire need of geologists, as well as specialists in rocks and oil. Beginning in 1922, Gubkin headed the Moscow Mining Academy for eight years. He developed and introduced several radically new departments focused on the study of various branches of oil science. The Oil Institute of Moscow, founded in 1930, was based precisely on these new departments. Students attending newly formed educational institutions studied specialized courses and subjects that were introduced into the program at the suggestion of Ivan Gubkin.
Interesting facts from the biography of the figure: elementary school
The primary education of the future academician was taken care of by his grandmother, insisting thatfor the boy to go to the local village school. The father was not going to send his son to study, he was even categorically against it. This is not surprising, because Gubkin Ivan Mikhailovich was one of five children, and the eldest of the brothers. He was expected to help with household chores. It is interesting that little Vanya did not aspire to education either, the school even frightened him.
The issue was resolved by the intervention of grandmother Fedosya, who found office forms for making notebooks, and also sewed a bag for Ivan to go to school. Gubkin's success in mastering the school curriculum became noticeable from the first months. Speaking in the language familiar to us, he was an excellent student. For this reason, he had very few friends, and his classmates teased him, calling him "scholar" and "excellency."
Difficulties build up
Academician Gubkin Ivan Mikhailovich was forced more than once to defend and win back his desire for higher education. In his youth, when the village school was completed, Ivan's father insisted that he take the position of a clerk or shopkeeper. Not intending to stop and wanting to reach academic heights, Gubkin nevertheless entered the seminary.
In the process of studying, being in his third year, the young man wrote and distributed a rather caustic epigram about one of his classmates. Thus, Ivan repaid him for snitching. However, the trick almost cost Gubkin an exclusion from the teacher's seminary. The situation was saved by the help provided by Ivan's good friends.
Ivan Gubkin's family
The wife of a young teacher Ivanbecame a medical student Nina. They met in the Kuban and soon got married. The girl was very smart and educated: her medical education was already her second. However, she did not get it, because her newborn son, Sergey, demanded all her attention. The young family had a pretty hard time, since it was not easy for the three of us to live on a modest salary of a teacher, and Galina was born a few years later.
The situation changed only after Gubkin's appointment to the Geological Committee, which brought the scientist many promising business trips and became the beginning of a career take-off. The official literature often describes the rich labor activity that Ivan Mikhailovich Gubkin led: biography, memory, awards. However, professional achievements and fame became an obstacle to a happy family life. Long business trips, sometimes for several months, and huge distances between spouses did not help strengthen relations.
The fate of the academician's children
The scientist always wished only the best for his beloved children, not forgetting about them on his long trips. He was interested in their success, interests and achievements, and often sent money.
In one of the many letters written by Ivan to his wife, he says that he wants his children to have an interesting and eventful life. Following his destiny, he did not want Sergei and Galina to step over their desires and suffer, doing an unloved thing.
The children of the scientist fully heeded the advice of their father. Sergey also wantedengage in geology, but then retrained as a metallurgist and also became an academician.
Galina chose the profession of an aeronaut, and later a test pilot.
Today, in the homeland of the famous geologist, almost every resident knows who Ivan Mikhailovich Gubkin is. The awards that honored the academician for his most important contribution to science and industry are the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
Institutions, libraries, streets and the city bear his name. On the site where Ivan Gubkin's home stood, there is now a square with a memorial bust. Compatriots are extremely proud that they are close to such a famous and worthy person, they organize excursions to significant places and compose poems dedicated to him. Ivan Mikhailovich Gubkin is undoubtedly a wonderful person, whose success story can inspire and motivate so many people to bold deeds.
