Dmitrii Matveevich Perevoshchikov

Born Apr. 17 (28), 1788, according to some sources in Saransk, according to others in Shishkvich, Penza Province; died Sept. 3 (15), 1880, in St. Petersburg. Russian astronomer and mathematician. Academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1855; adjunct, 1852).

In 1808, Perevoshchikov graduated from the University of Kazan. In 1818 he became an instructor at Moscow University, and in 1826 a professor; from 1848 to 1851 he was the university’s rector. From 1830 to 1832, he supervised the building of the Moscow Observatory, a project undertaken under his initiative. In 1851 he moved to St. Petersburg.

At Moscow University, Perevoshchikov lectured on various subjects, including spherical and theoretical astronomy, the theory of perturbations in planetary motions, physics, and mathematics. Perevoshchikov wrote the first Russian astronomy textbooks, Handbook of Astronomy (1826) and Foundations of Astronomy (1842), as well as Textbook of Experimental Physics (1883, published posthumously), the mathematical work Principles of Analytic Geometry in Three Dimensions (1822), and other works. His textbooks and his articles in various journals, including Sowemennik and Otechestvennye zapiski, played a large role in disseminating knowledge in Russia. His studies and popularizations of M. V. Lomonosov’s scientific legacy were particularly important.