On the Trail of The Maternal Element with Kate Nicholls

Submitted: 21st June 2026

The Maternal Element

The Maternal Element Kate Nicholls

Location map of The Maternal Element

In 2020, sitting at my desk in Rome preparing a class on the Periodic Table, I stumbled upon a short article about Dmitri Mendeleev’s mother, Maria Mendeleeva. From across the centuries, I felt a connection with her that sparked many years of intensive research. Reading and absorbing a rare compilation of intimate family letters was a revelation. I grew to love the characters I encountered, and the brilliant Russian woman who inspired and empowered all her children. On reaching adulthood, her youngest child would lead us towards a deeper understanding of the universe. The ripple effects of Maria’s intellect, courage and curiosity touched all who knew her and spread into the 21st Century. Here was a story that had to be told.

Location map of The Maternal Element

The Maternal Element is a domestic family epic, set amid Russia’s sweeping landscapes, rich with recognisable familial, marital and sociopolitical struggles.

“We are dancing on the edge of change, and with just one slip we will fall backwards.”

Raised in Tobolsk, Siberia, by her emotionally fragile father and her stalwart nanny, Maria hunted down new knowledge in her father’s library, sating her childhood curiosity by lamplight. “…entranced by nature and the wonders of the unseen world, she hungered to understand how things worked.”

Tambov

At age sixteen, Maria married Ivan, a radical teacher with whom she shared a vibrant, happy marriage. Due to Ivan’s work, they moved to Tambov and later to Saratov on the Volga River. In time, driven by grief and profound moral injustice, the family return to Siberia. Invigorated by science and literature, yet thwarted by the strictures of the time, Maria hungered for novel challenges. “She felt her essence fading like fabric on old furniture exposed to too much sunlight. The burning inside Maria had no outlet, and the pressure was building….There was a growling inside her that would not be silenced.”

Location map of The Maternal Element

Saratov

Location map of The Maternal Element

Throughout her life, Maria Mendeleeva’s passion for new knowledge never diminished, and it drove her to develop a challenging homeschool programme for her children. The fact that her daughters had no access to formal education remained a lifelong frustration.

“All those worthy daughters…excluded from formal classrooms. Despite their learning, their access to an unparalleled library, the love of a good father and her remorseless maternal energy and ambition, her daughters’ talents had no place to land and take root outside the home.”

Location map of The Maternal Element

When her husband goes blind, Maria becomes the family’s sole breadwinner. During a winter storm, she moves to the rural village Vérkhnie Aremziani, where she gives birth to Dmitri, her seventeenth baby. Maria successfully rejuvenates her grandfather’s glass factory and undergoes a period of personal transformation.

“His blindness had been a challenge for both of them. It had shifted the dynamic of their marriage. His struggles had empowered her….She had fed her family—and more besides. She had found her path.”
With the best intentions, Maria and Ivan send their oldest son to school in Moscow. A fateful decision that will change the family’s trajectory.

“Good parents can make bad decisions. Surely no one could have predicted the consequences…”

Location map of The Maternal Element

Despite a litany of life-changing events, Maria’s devotion and determination remained unbowed. In time, the family moved away from the Irtysh River, crossed the Ural Mountains, to Ekaterinburg, then on to Moscow, and finally to St Petersburg. The multifarious cultural and socio-political challenges of 19th-century Russia match the complexity and diversity of the family’s intellectual and emotional landscapes.