3. Выдающиеся люди России Mikhail Lomonosov (1711-1765) (1) Михаил Ломоносов

   Mikhail Lomonosov is the father of the Russian science and one of the most famous universities in the world. Lomonosov was born in 1711 in Arkhangelsk province. He began to read when he was a little boy. He always wanted to study and when he was nineteen he went to Moscow. He entered the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy and six years later, in 1736, he was sent abroad to complete his studies in Chemistry and mining. Lomonosov worked hard and became a great scientist. He was the first Russian academician; Lomonosov opened the first Russian chemistry lab. He was a physicist, a painter, an astronomer, a geographer, a historian and a statesman. In 1755 Mikhail Lomonosov founded Moscow University which is now Moscow State University named after him. Mikhail made research in electricity, gravity and the character of colour. Lomonosov was also the author of many odes and poems. He also published a lot of scientific works, including the first book on Russian grammar. Lomonosov died in 1765 but people still remember him.

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Mikhail Lomonosov (2)

   Mikhail Lomonosov was born in 1711 in the family of a fisherman in the northern coastal village of Denisovka not far from Archangelsk. When he was ten years of age his father began to take him sea fishing. The dangerous life of a fisherman forced him to observe the natural phenomena more closely. During the long winter nights young Lomonosov studied his letters, grammar and arithmetic diligently. Being the son of a peasant, he was refused admission to the local school. After some years, through concealing his peasant origin, he gained admission to the Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy and for five years lived a hand-to-mouth existence on three kopecks a day. The noblemen's sons studying with him made fun of the twenty-year-old giant who, in spite of the jeers and his own poverty, made rapid progress. After five years came the chance of entering the Academy of Sciences, as there were not enough noble-born students to fill the quota. His ability and diligence attracted the attention of the professors and as one of three best students he was sent abroad. He spent all the time there studying the works of leading European scientists in chemistry, metallurgy, mining and mathematics. On his return to Russia in 1745 he was made a professor and was the first Russian scientist to become a member of the Academy of Sciences. For versatility Lomonosov has no equal in Russian science. Many of his ideas and discoveries only won recognition in the nineteenth century. He was the first to discover the vegetable origin of coal, for instance, and as a poet and scientist he played a great role in the formation of Russian literary language, eliminating distortions and unnecessary foreign words. He died in 1765. His living memorial is the Moscow University, which he founded in 1755.

Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) Александр Пушкин

   Alexander Pushkin is one of the most outstanding Russians. He was the greatest Russian poet and writer. Pushkin devoted his life to writing poems. The young Alexander's first poems appeared when he was fifteen, and by the time he left school he was regarded as a rival by the literary leaders of that time. Pushkin was the first poet who touched problems that were important for Russia and its people. Because of that he was sent to exile a few times. Pushkin wrote a lot of poems and novels. Among his famous ones are: Eugenij Onegin, Ruslan and Lyudmila and others. Children like to read his fairy tales and watch wonderful cartoons based on them. When I was a child I read all the fairy tales by this talented poet. First my grandmother read them for me, but then when 1 learnt to read, I read his tales myself. Most of Pushkin's best works are studied at school. There is a statue to Pushkin in Moscow at Pushkin Square Young and old people gather by the statue, read poems and just meet friends.

   Pushkin is respected not only in Russia, but all over the world. His novels and poems have been translated into many languages and arc enjoyed by foreigners.