to found the first oil refinery in Russia. He recognized the importance of petroleum as a feedstock for petrochemicals. He is credited with a remark that burning petroleum as a fuel "would be akin to firing up a kitchen stove with bank notes".

Mendeleev was nominated for Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the last three years of his life, 1905, 1906 and 1907 in 9 nominations.In 1905, Mendeleev was elected a member of