Melikishvili Peter

Melikishvili Peter (1850–1927), Well-known chemist, one of the founders of Georgian University and its first Rector (1918), Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1927). He was born in Tbilisi, Georgia. In 1872 he graduated from the Department of Natural Science of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Novorossya University. From 1876 he served at the Chemical Laboratory of same University and received degrees of Master and Doctor of Philosophy. In 1884 P. Melikishvili was elected an associate professor of Agrarian-Chemical Department; in 1885-1917 he filled the position of a Professor at the Novorossya University. He researched the problems of the synthesis and physical and chemical properties of particular elements’ organic acids of and their derivatives. His research works in the above field contributed to the development of the theory of matter structure. In 1899 his research work on super-acids and super-peroxides were published as a separate monograph. For great scientific achievements, in 1900 the Academy of Sciences of Petersburg awarded P. Melikishvili (along with Academician L. Pisarzhevski) with the Prize named after M. Lomonosov and Grand Golden Medal. D. Mendeleev highly appreciated his achievements, believing that they contributed to the consolidation of the Periodic Table of Elements. In 1918 P. Melikishvili returned to Tbilisi.

He died in Tbilisi and was buried in the yard of Tbilisi State University.