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Nikolai Nikolaevich Beketov and his Crimean estates. Nikolai Nikolaevich Beketov - biography N Beketov biography

Beketov, Nikolai Nikolaevich

Russian chemist Nikolai Nikolaevich Beketov, one of the founders of physical chemistry, was born in the village of. New Beketovka, Penza province. He studied at the 1st Petersburg gymnasium; in 1844 he entered St. Petersburg University, but from the 3rd year he moved to Kazan University, from which he graduated in 1849. In 1849-1853. Beketov worked in St. Petersburg at the Medical-Surgical Academy in the chemical laboratory of N.N. Zinina. In 1854, Beketov received a master's degree in chemistry, in 1855 he was appointed adjutant in the department of chemistry at Kharkov University, where in 1859 he became a professor of chemistry. Beketov worked in Kharkov until 1886, when he was elected an ordinary academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1886, Beketov moved to St. Petersburg, where he worked in an academic chemical laboratory and taught at the Higher Women's Courses. In 1890 he taught at the Moscow University the course "Basic Principles of Thermochemistry". Several times he was elected President of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society (1889-1890, 1896-1897, 1900, 1902, 1903, 1911).

At the beginning of his scientific career, Beketov worked in the field of organic chemistry. Together with Zinin, he studied the behavior of organic substances at high temperatures. In 1852 he synthesized benzureide and aceturide. The main field of scientific activity of Beketov was the emerging physical chemistry. In 1865, Beketov put forward a number of theoretical propositions on the dependence of the direction of reactions on the state of the reagents and external conditions. He discovered the displacement of metals from solutions of their salts by hydrogen under pressure, found that magnesium and zinc at high temperatures displace other metals from their salts. Beketov created thermochemical laboratories, in which, together with his students, he studied chemical affinity. Beketov determined the heats of formation of oxides and chlorides of alkali metals, and was the first to obtain (1870) anhydrous oxides of alkali metals. In 1859-1865. he showed that at high temperatures aluminum reduces many metals from their oxides; Later, these experiments served as the starting point for the emergence of aluminothermy.

A huge merit of Beketov is the development of physical chemistry as an independent scientific and educational discipline. Back in 1860, in Kharkov, Beketov taught the course "The relationship of physical and chemical phenomena to each other", and in 1865 - the course "Physical chemistry". In 1864, at the suggestion of Beketov, a physical and chemical department was established at Kharkov University, where, along with lectures, a workshop on physical chemistry was introduced and physical and chemical research was carried out.

Sources:

1. Volkov V.A., Vonsky E.V., Kuznetsova G.I. Outstanding chemists of the world. – M.: VSh, 1991. 656 p.
2. Great Soviet Encyclopedia. In 30 vols.
3. Encyclopedic dictionary. Brockhaus F.A., Efron I.A. In 86 vols.

There were 2 departments of the Faculty of Philosophy for the category of natural sciences, but from the 3rd year he moved to Kazan University, from which he graduated in 1849. In 1849-1853. Beketov worked in St. Petersburg at the Medical and Surgical Academy in the chemical laboratory of N. N. Zinin, where he completed his master's thesis, which served as the beginning of his numerous studies in the field of physical chemistry. In 1855, Beketov was appointed an extraordinary professor (adjunct) in the department of chemistry at Kharkov University. After a business trip abroad in 1858-1859, when Beketov visited many European countries and listened to lectures by the outstanding chemists F. Wehler, R.-V. Bunsen, F.-A. Kekule and many others, he concluded that "the rapid development of science and its practical applications requires that teaching at the university and the study of chemistry go hand in hand with independent research." Upon returning to Kharkov, Beketov became a professor of chemistry at Kharkov University, and a year later he achieved the opening of the first physical and chemical department in Russia. In a memorandum justifying the creation of a new specialty, Beketov wrote: “Knowing chemistry ... is impossible without a thorough acquaintance with physics, and therefore also with mathematics ... Although we distinguish between the chemical and physical properties of bodies, both of them are an expression of the structure and the properties of the smallest particles ... The structure of matter ... depends on physical conditions and chemical properties. At this department, he not only taught students a course in physical chemistry, but also supervised practical classes on determining the vapor density and molecular weight of substances, studying spectra, etc. In 1865, the scientist defended his doctoral thesis "Research on the phenomena of displacement of some metals by others." In it, he established the influence of the concentration of reagents on the direction of a chemical reaction, anticipating the conclusions of the law of mass action. Later, on his initiative, the Society of Experimental Sciences with a physical and chemical section was created at Kharkov University, where research was carried out and scientific reports were read. Beketov's experimental work was unsafe: at least experiments with hydrogen in sealed glass tubes under a pressure of about 100 atmospheres are worth (these experiments were necessary to study the phenomenon of displacement (recovery) of metals from solutions of their salts. The opening of such tubes under water was usually accompanied by explosions. It was necessary a scientist to work with toxic substances, such as, for example, phosphine. However, in 1886 the scientist's work at Kharkov University ended. The reason for this was the abolition of the physical and chemical category (the last graduation took place in 1887) and the reduction in the volume of teaching chemistry. In 1887 Beketov moved to the capital; the place of his work is the chemical laboratory of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In the same year he published his textbook on physical chemistry. Starting from the same year, N.N. Beketov lectured chemistry for free at the Higher Women's Courses for 15 years. At the same time, from 1887 to 1889, he taught chemistry to the heir to Tsarevich Nicholas. Beginning in 1889, Beketov was repeatedly elected President of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society (1889-1890, 1896-1897, 1900, 1902, 1903, 1911), in 1890 he taught the course "Basic Principles of Thermochemistry" at Moscow University.

At the beginning of his scientific career, Beketov worked in the field of organic chemistry. Together with Zinin, he studied the behavior of organic substances at high temperatures. In 1852, Beketov synthesized benzureide and aceturide. The main field of scientific activity of Beketov was the emerging physical chemistry. In 1865, the scientist put forward a number of theoretical provisions on the dependence of the direction of reactions on the state of the reagents and external conditions. He discovered the displacement of metals from solutions of their salts by hydrogen under pressure, found that magnesium and zinc at high temperatures displace other metals from their salts. Beketov created thermochemical laboratories, in which, together with his students, he studied chemical affinity. Beketov determined the heats of formation of oxides and chlorides of alkali metals, and was the first to obtain (1870) anhydrous oxides of alkali metals. Beketov came close to the idea that the chemical properties of substances are determined by the properties of their atoms - atomic mass and radius. The “displacement series of metals” established by him exactly coincided with the electrochemical series of voltages found later. Based on his ideas about the "strength" (in modern terminology - stability) of the combination of elements with close atomic masses, Beketov proposed aluminum as the most powerful reducing agent. With its help, he carried out the recovery of some metals from their oxides at high temperatures, creating the basis for a method that later became part of the practice called aluminothermy. This method is now widely used in metallurgy.

Beketov's scientific activity lasted almost 60 years. His students were A.P. Eltekov, F.M. Flavitsky, A.K. Pogorelko, N.A. Chernay, I.P. Osipov, VF Timofeev and many other famous scientists. Beketov was not only a scientist and teacher, but also a public figure: he organized a public library in Kharkov, the Society for the Propagation of Literacy and the Society for Assistance to Needy Students, and gave public lectures. Speaking about his teacher, V. F. Timofeev quoted the words of Seneca: “All people are divided into two groups: those who die during life, and those who live after death.”

Russian chemist Nikolai Nikolaevich Beketov, one of the founders of physical chemistry, was born in the village of. New Beketovka, Penza province. He studied at the 1st Petersburg gymnasium; in 1844 he entered St. Petersburg University, but from the 3rd year he moved to Kazan University, from which he graduated in 1849. In 1849-1853. Beketov worked in St. Petersburg at the Medical-Surgical Academy in the chemical laboratory of N.N. Zinin. In 1854, Beketov received a master's degree in chemistry, in 1855 he was appointed adjutant in the department of chemistry at Kharkov University, where in 1859 he became a professor of chemistry. Beketov worked in Kharkov until 1886, when he was elected an ordinary academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1886, Beketov moved to St. Petersburg, where he worked in an academic chemical laboratory and taught at the Higher Women's Courses. In 1890 he taught at the Moscow University the course "Basic Principles of Thermochemistry". Several times he was elected President of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society.

At the beginning of his scientific career, Beketov worked in the field of organic chemistry. Together with Zinin, he studied the behavior of organic substances at high temperatures. In 1852 he synthesized benzureide and aceturide. The main field of scientific activity of Beketov was the emerging physical chemistry. In 1865, Beketov put forward a number of theoretical propositions on the dependence of the direction of reactions on the state of the reagents and external conditions. He discovered the displacement of metals from solutions of their salts by hydrogen under pressure, found that magnesium and zinc at high temperatures displace other metals from their salts. Beketov created thermochemical laboratories, in which, together with his students, he studied chemical affinity. Beketov determined the heats of formation of oxides and chlorides of alkali metals, and was the first to obtain (1870) anhydrous oxides of alkali metals. In 1859-1865 he showed that at high temperatures aluminum reduces many metals from their oxides; Later, these experiments served as the starting point for the emergence of aluminothermy.

A huge merit of Beketov is the development of physical chemistry as an independent scientific and educational discipline. Back in 1860, in Kharkov, Beketov taught the course "The relationship of physical and chemical phenomena to each other", and in 1865 - the course "Physical chemistry". In 1864, at the suggestion of Beketov, a physical and chemical department was established at Kharkov University, where, along with lectures, a workshop on physical chemistry was introduced and physical and chemical research was carried out.

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Beketov Nikolai Nikolaevich
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:

v. Novaya Beketovka

Date of death:
A place of death:

St. Petersburg

Academic degree:

Doctor of Science, Academician

Academic title:

Professor

Alma mater:

Kazan University

Beketov Nikolai Nikolaevich(January 1 (13), 1827 - November 30 (December 13), 1911) - was born in the village of Novaya Beketovka, Penza province, in the family of a landowner. Russian physical chemist, academician. One of the founders of physical chemistry and chemical dynamics, laid the foundations of the principle of aluminothermy. Honorary member of TPU.

Biography

In 1849 - graduated from Kazan University

Since 1855 adjunct in chemistry,

In 1859-1887 he was a professor at Kharkov Imperial University.

In 1865 he defended his doctoral thesis "Research on the phenomena of displacement of some metals by others."

In 1886 he moved to St. Petersburg, where he worked in an academic chemical laboratory and taught at the Higher Women's Courses.

In 1890 he taught at the Moscow University the course "Basic Principles of Thermochemistry". Beketov discovered the displacement of metals from solutions of their salts by hydrogen under pressure and found that magnesium and zinc at high temperatures displace other metals from their salts.

In 1859-1865 he showed that at high temperatures aluminum restores metals from their oxides. Later, these experiments served as the starting point for the emergence of aluminothermy. A huge merit of Beketov is the development of physical chemistry as an independent scientific and educational discipline.

Back in 1860, in Kharkov, Beketov taught the course "The relationship of physical and chemical phenomena to each other", and in 1865 - the course "Physical chemistry".

In 1864, at the suggestion of Beketov, a physical and chemical department was established at the university, where, along with lecturing, a workshop on physical chemistry was introduced and physical and chemical research was carried out. Beketov's students were A.P. Eltekov, F.M. Flavitsky and others.

Scientific activity

Scientific works are devoted to the study of the dependence of the direction of chemical reactions on the state of the reagents and external conditions, the study of chemical affinity and what properties determine this affinity. In his doctoral thesis, he established the influence of the concentration of reagents on the direction of a chemical reaction, anticipating the conclusions of the law of mass action. He discovered the displacement of metals from solutions of their salts by hydrogen and showed that the chemical action of gases depends on pressure; established the possibility of a reaction proceeding in two directions and gave a precise definition of the state of equilibrium. He studied the displacement of some elements by others from their compounds and connected these processes with "the initial chemical properties of elements - what is called chemical affinity." In an effort to connect chemical phenomena with "relative masses and distances between acting particles", Beketov came close to the idea that the chemical properties of substances are determined by the properties of their atoms - atomic mass and radius. The “displacement series of metals” established by him exactly coincided with the electrochemical series of voltages found later. Based on his ideas about the "strength" (in modern terminology - stability) of the combination of elements with close atomic masses, Beketov proposed aluminum as the most powerful reducing agent. With its help, he carried out the recovery of some metals from their oxides at high temperatures, creating the basis for a method that later became part of the practice called aluminothermy. This method is now widely used in metallurgy.

Always trying to penetrate into the essence of those dark processes which are called chemical, he never obtained a single new fact for the sake of the fact itself. While the vast majority of chemists Zap. Europe was engaged in the discovery of new bodies, new compounds, at a time when organic chemistry represented no end for new discoveries and chemical journals had to increase in volume three to four times every month and yet could not contain the entire mass of actual research carried out in all ends of Europe, at a time when mineral chemistry seemed to give no chance for new interesting discoveries - at this particular time, N. N. Beketov, not carried away by the fashionable trend, not tempted by the thirst for discovering new facts, slowly walked along the difficult path of theoretical chemistry and sought to resolve the issue of where the source, where the cause of what in chemistry is defined by the term "chemical affinity".

Social activity

He founded the Society for the Propagation of Literacy and the Society for Assistance to Needy Students, gave public lectures, he created the Public Library in Kharkov. The library building was built according to the project of the son of N.N. Beketov, architect Alexei Nikolaevich Beketov (1862-1941).

Proceedings

Main works: "On some new cases of chemical combination and general remarks about these phenomena" (St. Petersburg, 1853); "On the action of hydrogen under pressure on solutions of silver" (1859); "On the reduction of metallic barium by means of aluminum" (1859); "On the Formation of Potassium Permanganate in the Fusion of Manganese Peroxide with Potassium Hydroxide" (1859); "On the action of zinc in the vapor state in a hydrogen jet on barium chloride, aluminum chloride and silicon chloride"; "Research on the phenomena of displacement of some metals by others" (1865); "On the formation of formic acid during the electrolysis of sodium bicarbonate" (1869); "Projectile for thickening gases" (1869); "On the atomicity of elements"; "On the action of synerod on formic acid"; "On cyanocyanide" (1870); "On the atomicity of chlorine and fluorine"; "On the dissociation of sulfide, selenide and telluride hydrogen"; "On the difference between elements and complex bodies" (1873); "On the action of hydrogen on silver nitrate" (1874); "On the influence of high masses of elements on the reaction of substitution and double exchange" (1875); "On the Heat of the Combination of Carbon with Hydrogen" (1875); "On the action of silver oxide on potassium iodide in the absence of water" (1876); "On the solubility of silver oxide in water" (1878); "On the determination of the heat capacity of hydrogen in the solid state" (1879); "Hydration of anhydrous sodium oxide and on the ratios of metallic sodium to caustic soda and hydrogen to sodium oxide"; "On the action of carbonic anhydride, carbon monoxide and mercury oxide on sodium oxide" - this work was awarded the Lomonosov Prize; "On Anhydrous Potassium Oxide and Anhydrous Lithium Oxide" (1881 and 1883); "On the Question of Mutual Displacement of Haloids" (1881); "On the question of the limit of displacement of metals" (1883); "On the relation of the temperature of dissociation to the heat of formation and to the relative weight of the connected atoms" (1883); "On obtaining metallic rubidium from caustic rubidium and aluminum" (1885); "The dynamic side of chemical phenomena"; "Basic Principles of Thermochemistry" (4 lectures, 1890); "The periodic system of Mendeleev in relation to new gases" ("Journal of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society", 1902, v. 34); "On chemical energy in connection with the phenomena represented by radium" (ibid., 1903, v. 35); "Radium as an intermediary between real weighty matter and ether" (ibid., 1904, vol. 36); "On the Energy of the Elements" (ibid., 1908, vol. 40).

Nikolai Nikolaevich Beketov(January 1, St. Petersburg - November 30 [December 13], St. Petersburg) - Academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (since 1886), Privy Councilor (since 1890). One of the founders of physical chemistry and chemical dynamics, laid the foundations of the principle of aluminothermy.

Father of academician of architecture Aleksey Nikolaevich Beketov (1862-1941), who greatly changed the architectural appearance of Kharkov, the author of many buildings in the Crimea and southern Russia.

Biography

Nikolai Beketov was born on January 1, 1827 in the family of a naval officer. He was educated at the First St. Petersburg Gymnasium; in 1844 he entered St. Petersburg University, but from the third year he transferred to Kazan University, from which he graduated in 1849 with a degree in natural sciences.

In late winter - early spring 1846, N. N. Beketov, together with his brothers Alexei and Andrei, organized a literary and philosophical circle, which was attended by the poet A. N. Maikov, critic V. N. Maikov, F. M. Dostoevsky, A. N. Pleshcheev, doctor S. D. Yanovsky, D. V. Grigorovich and others. From the autumn of 1846 until February 1847, the members of this circle lived in the same apartment in a clubbing, forming an “association”, which broke up after Beketov left for Kazan.

Beketov discovered the displacement of metals from solutions of their salts by hydrogen under pressure and found that magnesium and zinc at high temperatures displace other metals from their salts. In 1859-1865 he showed that at high temperatures aluminum restores metals from their oxides. Later, these experiments served as the starting point for the emergence of aluminothermy.

Beketov's great merit is the development of physical chemistry as an independent scientific and educational discipline. Back in 1860, in Kharkov, Beketov taught the course "The relationship of physical and chemical phenomena to each other", and in 1865 - the course "Physical chemistry". In 1864, at the suggestion of Beketov, a physical and chemical department was established at the university, where, along with lecturing, a workshop on physical chemistry was introduced and physical and chemical research was carried out. Beketov's students were A.P. Eltekov, F.M. Flavitsky, I.P. Osipov and others.

Addresses in St. Petersburg

Memory

Compositions

  • "In memory of the 50th anniversary of the scientific activity of Nikolai Nikolaevich Beketov" - Kharkov, 1904 (a number of Beketov's works and a list of works).
  • "Speeches of a Chemist, 1862-1903". - St. Petersburg, 1908.

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Notes

Literature

  • // List of civil ranks of the fourth class. Corrected on June 15th, 1881. - St. Petersburg. : Printing House of the Governing Senate, 1881. - S. 404-405.
  • // List of persons serving under the department of the Ministry of Public Education for 1911. - St. Petersburg. : Senate printing house, 1911. - S. 133.
  • Turchenko Ya. I. Nikolai Nikolaevich Beketov. - M., 1954.
  • From the history of domestic chemistry. The role of scientists of Kharkov University in the development of chemical science. - Kharkov, 1952.
  • St. Petersburg. 300 + 300 biographies. Biographical Dictionary / St. Petersburg. 300 + 300 biographies. Biographic Glossary // Comp. G. Gopienko. - In Russian. and English. lang. - M.: Markgraf, 2004. - 320 p. - Tyr. 5000 copies - ISBN 5-85952-032-8. - S. 23.

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An excerpt characterizing Beketov, Nikolai Nikolaevich

The game and dinner were already over, but the guests had not yet left. Pierre threw off his cloak and entered the first room, where there were the remnants of dinner and one footman, thinking that no one could see him, was secretly finishing his unfinished glasses. From the third room came fuss, laughter, cries of familiar voices and the roar of a bear.
About eight young people crowded preoccupiedly near the open window. Three were busy with a young bear, which one dragged on a chain, scaring the other with it.
“I hold a hundred for Stevens!” one shouted.
– Look not to support! shouted another.
- I'm for Dolokhov! shouted a third. - Take it apart, Kuragin.
- Well, drop Mishka, there's a bet.
- In one spirit, otherwise it is lost, - shouted the fourth.
- Yakov, give me a bottle, Yakov! - Shouted the owner himself, a tall handsome man, standing in the middle of the crowd in one thin shirt, open in the middle of his chest. - Stop, gentlemen. Here he is Petrusha, dear friend, - he turned to Pierre.
Another voice of a short man, with clear blue eyes, which was especially striking among all these drunken voices with its sober expression, shouted from the window: "Come here - break the bet!" It was Dolokhov, a Semyonov officer, a well-known gambler and swindler, who lived with Anatole. Pierre smiled, looking cheerfully around him.
- I don't understand anything. What's the matter?
Wait, he's not drunk. Give me a bottle, - said Anatole and, taking a glass from the table, went up to Pierre.
- First of all, drink.
Pierre began to drink glass after glass, scowling at the drunken guests, who again crowded at the window, and listening to their conversation. Anatole poured him wine and said that Dolokhov was betting with the Englishman Stevens, a sailor who was here, that he, Dolokhov, would drink a bottle of rum, sitting on the third floor window with his legs down.
- Well, drink it all! - said Anatole, giving the last glass to Pierre, - otherwise I won’t let him in!
“No, I don’t want to,” said Pierre, pushing Anatole away, and went to the window.
Dolokhov held the Englishman's hand and clearly, distinctly pronounces the terms of the bet, addressing primarily to Anatole and Pierre.
Dolokhov was a man of medium height, with curly hair and light blue eyes. He was twenty-five years old. He did not wear a mustache, like all infantry officers, and his mouth, the most striking feature of his face, was completely visible. The lines of this mouth were remarkably finely curved. In the middle, the upper lip fell energetically onto the strong lower lip in a sharp wedge, and something like two smiles constantly formed in the corners, one on each side; and all together, and especially in combination with a firm, insolent, intelligent look, made such an impression that it was impossible not to notice this face. Dolokhov was a poor man, without any connections. And despite the fact that Anatole lived in tens of thousands, Dolokhov lived with him and managed to put himself in such a way that Anatole and everyone who knew them respected Dolokhov more than Anatole. Dolokhov played all the games and almost always won. No matter how much he drank, he never lost his head. Both Kuragin and Dolokhov at that time were celebrities in the world of rake and revelers in St. Petersburg.
A bottle of rum was brought; the frame, which did not allow one to sit on the outer slope of the window, was broken down by two lackeys, apparently in a hurry and timid from the advice and cries of the surrounding gentlemen.
Anatole, with his victorious air, went up to the window. He wanted to break something. He pushed the footmen away and pulled the frame, but the frame did not give up. He broke the glass.
“Well, come on, strong man,” he turned to Pierre.
Pierre took hold of the crossbars, pulled, and with a crack turned the oak frame inside out.
- All out, otherwise they will think that I am holding on, - said Dolokhov.
“The Englishman is boasting… huh?… good?…” said Anatole.
“Good,” said Pierre, looking at Dolokhov, who, taking a bottle of rum in his hands, went up to the window, from which he could see the light of the sky and the morning and evening dawns merging on it.
Dolokhov, with a bottle of rum in his hand, jumped up to the window. "Listen!"
he shouted, standing on the windowsill and turning into the room. Everyone fell silent.
- I bet (he spoke French so that an Englishman could understand him, and he did not speak this language very well). I bet fifty imperials, want a hundred? he added, turning to the Englishman.
“No, fifty,” said the Englishman.
- Well, for fifty imperials - that I will drink the whole bottle of rum without taking it from my mouth, I will drink it, sitting outside the window, right here (he bent down and showed a sloping ledge of the wall outside the window) and not holding on to anything ... So? …
“Very well,” said the Englishman.
Anatole turned to the Englishman and, taking him by the button of his tailcoat and looking at him from above (the Englishman was short), began to repeat the terms of the bet in English.
- Wait! Dolokhov shouted, banging the bottle on the window to draw attention to himself. - Wait, Kuragin; listen. If anyone does the same, then I pay a hundred imperials. Do you understand?
The Englishman nodded his head, giving no indication as to whether or not he intended to accept this new wager. Anatole did not let go of the Englishman, and despite the fact that he, nodding, let it be known that he understood everything, Anatole translated Dolokhov's words into English for him. A young, thin boy, a life hussar who lost that evening, climbed to the window, leaned out and looked down.
“U!… u!… u!…” he said, looking out the window at the pavement stone.
- Attention! Dolokhov shouted and pulled the officer off the window, who, tangled in his spurs, awkwardly jumped into the room.
Putting the bottle on the windowsill so that it would be convenient to get it, Dolokhov cautiously and quietly climbed out the window. Lowering his legs and bracing himself with both hands on the edge of the window, he tried on, sat down, lowered his arms, moved to the right, to the left, and took out a bottle. Anatole brought two candles and put them on the windowsill, although it was already quite light. Dolokhov's back in a white shirt and his curly head were illuminated from both sides. Everyone crowded at the window. The Englishman stood in front. Pierre smiled and said nothing. One of those present, older than the others, with a frightened and angry face, suddenly moved forward and wanted to grab Dolokhov by the shirt.
- Gentlemen, this is nonsense; he will kill himself to death,” said the more sensible man.
Anatole stopped him:
Don't touch it, you'll scare him, he'll kill himself. Huh?… What then?… Huh?…
Dolokhov turned around, straightening himself and again spreading his arms.
“If anyone else meddles with me,” he said, rarely passing words through clenched and thin lips, “I’ll let him down right here.” Well!…
Saying "well!", he turned again, let go of his hands, took the bottle and raised it to his mouth, threw back his head and threw up his free hand for an advantage. One of the footmen, who had begun to pick up the glass, stopped in a bent position, without taking his eyes off the window and Dolokhov's back. Anatole stood straight, his eyes open. The Englishman, pursing his lips forward, looked sideways. The one who stopped him ran to the corner of the room and lay down on the sofa facing the wall. Pierre covered his face, and a faint smile, forgotten, remained on his face, although it now expressed horror and fear. Everyone was silent. Pierre took his hands away from his eyes: Dolokhov was still sitting in the same position, only his head was bent back, so that the curly hair of the back of his head touched the collar of his shirt, and the hand with the bottle rose higher and higher, shuddering and making an effort. The bottle apparently emptied and at the same time rose, bending its head. "Why is it taking so long?" thought Pierre. It seemed to him that more than half an hour had passed. Suddenly Dolokhov made a backward movement with his back, and his hand trembled nervously; this shudder was enough to move the whole body, sitting on the sloping slope. He moved all over, and his hand and head trembled even more, making an effort. One hand went up to grab the window sill, but went down again. Pierre closed his eyes again and told himself that he would never open them again. Suddenly, he felt everything around him move. He looked: Dolokhov was standing on the windowsill, his face was pale and cheerful.