earth science

Pyotr Dravert

Pyotr Dravert is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pyotr Dravert rather than just read about it. In short: Pyotr Lyudovikovich Dravert (Russian: Пётр Людо́викович Дра́верт; 16 January 1879 – 12 December 1945) was a Russian and Soviet geologist, mineralogist, meteoriticist, professor, poet, and writer. He was a pioneer in the study of meteorites in Siberia.

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

Pyotr Lyudovikovich Dravert (Russian: Пётр Людо́викович Дра́верт; 16 January 1879 – 12 December 1945) was a Russian and Soviet geologist, mineralogist, meteoriticist, professor, poet, and writer. He was a pioneer in the study of meteorites in Siberia.

Biography Dravert was born into a noble family of Polish and French origin (the name is thought to derive from the French: "drapeau vert" - Green Banner of the Crusaders). He studied at the gymnasiums in Yekaterinburg and then Kazan. In 1899, he entered the Imperial University of Kazan.

Exiles in Siberia His involvement in the revolutionary student movement led to two periods of exile in Siberia:

1901: Arrested and exiled to the Perm Governorate. 1906: Sentenced to ten years of exile in Vilyuysk, Yakutia. In 1911, thanks to the intervention of the Academy of Sciences, he was transferred to Tomsk. During his exiles, he conducted mineralogical and geographical research in Yakutia, studying salt deposits and mineral springs.

Scientific career In 1914, Dravert completed his studies at the University of Kazan, by then already an established scientist. In 1916, he participated in an expedition of the Geological Committee to the Vilyuy River basin. From 1918, he lived and worked in Omsk. He became a professor at the Siberian Agricultural Academy and chaired its scientific bureau. In the aftermath of the Russian Civil War, during a severe famine in 1921, Professor Dravert published a practical brochure titled "On the Use of the Rush Root as a Bread Flour Substitute" . He provided clear instructions on how to find, prepare, and safely consume the local rush plant as an emergency food source, even testing it himself to ensure it was harmless. He was arrested in 1921 and again in 1931 during the case of the "Society for the Study of Siberia," but was released due to lack of evidence. During World War II, he directed a laboratory for construction materials, working on local mineral substitutes. From 1944 until his death, he worked at the Omsk Regional Museum of Local Lore. Dravert died on 12 December 1945 in Omsk. His funeral, held at the museum, was a poignant ceremony: his coffin rested on the gown of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and a friend delivered a eulogy in Latin. He was initially buried at the Cossack Cemetery, but his remains were transferred to the Staro-Vostochnoye Cemetery in 1961.

Scientific contributions

Meteoritics A pioneer in the study of meteorites in Siberia, Dravert participated in the first Soviet meteorite expedition in 1921 alongside Vladimir Vernadsky, Alexander Fersman, and Leonid Kulik. In 1927, he headed the Omsk Commission on Meteorites, and from 1939, he was a member of the Committee on Meteorites of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He studied meteorite falls and collected several specimens, including the Khmelevka, Kuznetsovo, and Yerofeyevka meteorites. He was the first to study in detail "electrophonic bolides" (meteors accompanied by anomalous sounds), a term he himself proposed.

Geology and mineralogy Dravert discovered and described several mineral deposits. In 1918, he found a rare variety of oldhamite (calcium sulfide), which was later named dravertinite in his honor. A new mineral, CuMg(SO4)2, discovered in Kamchatka in 2015, was named dravertite in his honor. He studied earthquakes in the Bayanaul Mountains (Kazakhstan) and discovered rock art in a cave there, which is now known as Dravert's Grotto. He introduced the scientific term "lithophagy" He defined the term as ingestion of minerals for nutritional purposes, what is commonly called geophagia now.

Literary work

Dravert's first collection, Shadows and Echoes, was published in Kazan in 1904. His poetry, imbued with Siberian themes and scientific terminology, was appreciated for its originality. He also wrote short stories, including a fantasy tale, The Tale of the Mammoth and the Ice Age Man (1909), published under the pseudonym Hector D.

Honours and legacy Minerals named after Dravert:

Dravertinite (a variety of oldhamite, CaS) dravertite (CuMg(SO4)2) Animal::

Lymnaea palustris draverti, Mozley, 1934 - water snail Toponyms:

Dravert's Grotto (Kazakhstan), an archaeological and geological site Dravert Shore (Omsk Oblast), a paleontological site on the Irtysh River Dravert Street in Omsk (named in 2007) Dravert’s Quarters - modern residents in Omsk. Notable students:

Leonid Martynov (1905–1980), poet Sergei Zalygin (1913–2000), writer

Archives His personal library is preserved at the Omsk State Scientific Library. His documents and collections are held in the archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Omsk State Museum of History and Local Lore.

Publications Selected scientific works:

Expedition to the Syuntar salt region (Экспедиция в соленосный район Сюнтар). Yakutsk, 1908. 43 c. Materials for the Ethnography and Geography of the Yakutsk Region (Материалы для этнографии и географии Якутской области). Kazan, 1912. 50 pp. On lithophagy: [stone eating] (О литофагии: [камнеедении]) // Siberian nature. 1922. No. 1. P. 3-6. Useful minerals of the Omsk-Tara region (Полезные ископаемые Омско-Тарского края). Omsk: Omsk Bureau of Local History, 1933. 20 pp. Shower of meteoritic stone in the neighbourhood of the village Kuznetzovo, West Siberia, on May 26, 1932 // Mineralogical Magazine. 1934. Vol. 23. N 144. P. 509-512. A new iron meteorite from Kazakhstan // Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. 1938. Vol. 33. No 2. P. 51. Some lost meteorites of the USSR (Asiatic part) // Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. 1938. Vol. 33. No 2. P. 53-56. Agronomic ores in the Omsk region (Агрономические руды в Омской области). Omsk: Omgiz, 1944. 21 p. Lost meteorites of the Asian part of the USSR (Потерянные метеориты азиатской части СССР). Meteoritika. 1948. Vol. 4. Selected literary works:

Тени и отзвуки (Shadows and Echoes). Kazan, 1904 (Poetry) Под небом якутской страны (Under the Sky of the Yakut Land). Tomsk, 1911 (Poetry) Сибирь (Siberia). Novo-Nikolayevsk, 1923 (Poetry) Сказание о маманте и ледниковом человеке (The Tale of the Mammoth and the Ice Age Man). 1909. (Fantasy story, as Hector D.)

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pyotr Dravert

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pyotr Dravert claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pyotr Dravert before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pyotr Dravert ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pyotr Dravert

In research: Pyotr Dravert appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pyotr Dravert in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pyotr Dravert is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1879 births, 1945 deaths, 20th-century Russian male poets, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pyotr Dravert outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pyotr Dravert in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pyotr Dravert means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Pyotr Dravert in simple terms?

Why does Pyotr Dravert matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pyotr Dravert?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pyotr Dravert.