Mychailo Ivanovych Konovalov (13/09/1858 Budychyno village, Yaroslavska region – 25 January 1906, Kyiv) – the prominent chemist, professor of Moscow Agricultural Institute, since the first July, 1899 holds a position of dean of chemical department and chairperson of inorganic chemistry chair of KPI. The member of construction commission and member of institute executive. The director (rector) of KPI since 1902 to 1904.
Mychailo Ivanovych Konovalov was born in 1858 in Budychino village (Rubunskyi district), Yaroslavska region in rural family. Together with rural children, he started his education under auspices of rural scholar, then being in service of his brothers in public house, graduated form Parochial and District school in Rubansk; having worked as barkeeper for a while, he entered Yaroslavska gymnasium and after that graduated from Moscow University for natural science department of physics and mathematics faculty. For some time worked as laboratory technician of industrial chemistry. Later, he worked as supernumerary laboratory technician affiliated with analytic and organic department of chemical laboratory and privatdocent of Moscow University, defended a dissertation on “Naphthenes, hexahydrobenzenes and their compounds” (1889) and Ph.D. dissertation on “Nitrifying affect of hydrogen nitrate on hydrocarbon of limit character” (1893). He taught chemistry and electric engineering in Military school, gave lectures on organic, inorganic and physical chemistry for 10 years as well as taught practicals at the female “collective”classes in Moscow. Since 1896 to 1899 he was a professor of inorganic and analytical chemistry in Moscow agricultural institute. Since 1899, he was a professor of chemistry in Kyiv polytechnic institute, where during three years he even hold a dean’s position of chemistry department taking part in Institute organization as well as in classes organization, after that for 2 years he hold a position of Institute director, in the meantime he worked as lecturer and director of Agricultural courses in Kyiv immediately upon their beginning. At the same time, he took part in organization and public lecturing, including lectures for laborers in Moscow (Kyiv). Apart from two dissertations, he is the author of 85 experimental works published in “The Magazine of Russian Physics and Chemical Society” (since 1884), “Bericht. d. deutsch. Chem. Gesellsch” (Berlin), “Comptes rendus de l'Acad. des se. de Paris, “News of Moscow Agricultural Institute” and “ News of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” regarding the following:
1) petroleum composition;
2) nitration in various circumstances of different classes of organic compounds;
3) the research of nitration accuracy;
4) nitrocompounds, isonitrocmpounds and their derivatives;
5) the methods for obtaining aldehyds and ketones;
6) the transition from nitrocompounds to indigo classes;
7) synthesis with haloid aluminum salts and izomerization during this process;
8) application of hydrogen nitrate in hydrocarbon compounds studying;
9) new complex compounds of aluminum bromide with carbon bisulphide and various organic compounds as well as synthesis of sulphur compounds;
10) synthesis of alcohols with the help of organomagnesium compounds;
11) light-refringent property of nitrogenous organic compounds;
12) nitrogenous compounds of terpenic classes and methane series;
13) alcohol conversion into hydrocarbons;
14) hydrogenization;
15) spontaneous transformation of oximes;
16) ploymethyleneimines;
17) hydrolysis of nitrates (by nitration);
18) compatibility of ferric salts of organic acids with nitrocompounds etc.
Besides, the scholar is the author of three popular articles on chemical issues, published in collection of articles “V pomoshch samoobrazovanyiu” and “Annual publication on physics, chemistry etc.” as well as in separate book - “Practical exercises on general chemistry” (1905).