Berkevich Leopold Fomich (Khomich) General data:
27.12.1828 - 12.05.1897
Place of birth: Sidletsi city, Pilan Province, Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire
Studied in: St. Petersburg Imperial University (since 1991 St. Petersburg State University) (1845-1849);
Key interests: celestial mechanics, theoretical astronomy, minor bodies of the Solar System, physics, mathematisc, chemistry, meteorology. ScD Thesis: Research general perturbation of Juno planet, which occurs under the influence of the Jupiter planet (1865 St. Petersburg Imperial University); ScD Thesis: Research of motion of the Juno planet (1868 Imperial Novorossiysk University, Odessa city);
Biography:
He was born on December 15, 1828 (according to the Julian calendar, or 27 according to the Gregorian calendar) in Sidlec city of Pilan province of Kingdom of Poland, as part of the Russian Empire, in the family of a doctor.
In 1845 he graduated from the gymnasium in Lublin city and passed the entrance exams to the Warsaw Teacher Training Courses and as a boarder of the Kingdom of Poland the young man was sent to study at St. Petersburg Imperial University.
In 1849 he graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg Imperial University with a degree in philosophy from the category of mathematical sciences and was left at the university to prepare for a professorship. But the duties of a pensioner forced him to fill up in Warsaw. where he began working at the Warsaw Astronomical Observatory as a junior assistant director of the observatory, engaged in metrological observations.
At the same time he was appointed teacher of physics and chemistry at the school of rabbis, later taught arithmetic and geometry at the county school, and in 1857 became a junior teacher of mathematics at the Warsaw Gymnasium.
Calculated the average daily temperature in Warsaw according to the observations of 1825-1859.
In 1860 he retired and moved to St. Petersburg City where he worked under the direction of P. L. Chebyshev and A. N. Savich at the Astronomical Observatory of St. Petersburg Imperial University. In 1852, due to the difficulties of life, he was forced to enter the civil service and get a job as an assistant director of the expedition to check alcohol meters in the Department of Taxes and Penalties of the Ministry of Finance. But three months later he was transferred to the Ministry of Education and soon sent on a two-year internship in Germany, where an astronomer on behalf of the German Astronomical Society, of which he became a member, calculated the ephemeris of the asteroid Niobium in 1863 and 1864. Internships with P.A. Hansen, H. Peters and I. F. Enke.
Returning from abroad in early October 1864, he passed the master's exams, and in late March 1865 he defended his master's dissertation at St. Petersburg Imperial University on the topic: "Study of the general perturbation of the planet Juno, which occurs under the influence of the planet Jupiter ", and again was sent abroad for scientific work.
During 1865-1880 he was an associate professor of astronomy and geodesy at the Imperial Novorossian University in Odessa city. In the academic year 1865-1866 he taught courses in cosmography (general astronomy) and spherical trigonometry (spherical astronomy), from the following year courses in practical astronomy (general astrometry) and theoretical astronomy (celestial mechanics), studied the perturbations of the small planet Juno. took care of the purchase of astronomical instruments. He also taught several mathematics courses at the university, in particular, analytical geometry.
During 1866-1880 he also taught commercial arithmetic to the Odessa Commercial School.
In early December 1868 I defended my doctoral dissertation at the Imperial Novorossian University in Odessa city on the topic: "Study of the motion of the planet Juno." Five days after his defense, he was confirmed as an extraordinary professor, and in early May 1869 he became an ordinary professor at the Department of Astronomy.
The astronomer was the first head of the Department of Astronomy and director of the Astronomical Observatory at the Imperial Novorossian University. In 1866 he first opened an astronomy room at the department, and then together with the university architect of the university P. V. Iodko designed the future observatory and with the support of the mayor's office began to build the building in 1870. On August 15, 1871 the university observatory was inaugurated. The scientist headed the observatory until 1880.
As director of the astronomical observatory of the Imperial Novorossian University in Odessa city, he consulted with O. V. Struve on the organization of photometric and spectral observations of stars, meteors, time service and determination of light positions, as well as the study of variable stars. O. V. Struve's advice began to be implemented with the arrival of A. K. Kononovich at the observatory.
In 1870 he was awarded the Order of St. Anne 2nd degree, and in 1872 the Order of St. Anne 2nd degree with the imperial crown.
In mid-December 1982, after completing his years of service, he retired, but continued to teach at the university until the end of the academic year. Then he went to Vilno city, and later to St. Petersburg City, where he practiced privately.
In May 1897 he became a member of the Russian Astronomical Society.
He died on May 12, 1897 in St. Petersburg City(according to other sources, Ryazan city, buried in the cemetery of the Trinity Monastery).
He was a celestial mechanic and in the field of astronomy dealt mainly with the theory of perturbations of small planets, to which his master's and doctoral dissertations were devoted.
Sources:
1 ÎÄÅÑÑÊÎÉ ÀÑÒÐÎÍÎÌÈ×ÅÑÊÎÉ ÎÁÑÅÐÂÀÒÎÐÈÈ 140 ËÅÒ/Ñ.Ì.Àíäðèåâñêèé//Odessa Astronomical Publications, vol. 24 (2011) Ñ.6
2 Âêëàä ôèçèêîâ Îäåññêîãî (Íîâîðîññèéñêîãî) óíèâåðñèòåòà â ðàçâèòèå íàóêè â Îäåññå (1920-1933).-Îäåññà: «Àñòðîïðèíò» 2010.-328ñ-Ñ. 47-48
3 Äèðåêòîðû Îäåññêîé îáñåðâàòîðèè
4 Äèíàñò³ÿ Còpyâe â icòopi¿ acòpoíoìi¿ Óêðà¿íè /T. Ã. Apòåìåíêî, M. A. Áàëèøåâ, I. Á. Bàâèëîâà //KÈHEMATÈKA È ÔÈ3ÈKA HEBECHÛX TEË, 2009, 25 (3). Ñ. 215.
