In 1950, 31 new minerals were discovered in the USSR, including 14 previously unknown to science. In 1954 and 1955, the first primary diamond deposits were identified in the country—kimberlite pipes "Zarnitsa," "Mir," and "Udachnaya" in Yakutia, later recognized as some of the largest in the world. Around the same time, the "Finch" pipe was discovered in South Africa, and the Shinkolobwe mine in Congo revealed a series of new minerals, including yttionite, beckerite, scootite, curite, fourmarierite, and masuyite.
As advancements in geological exploration methods led to increasingly significant discoveries, scientific exchange between researchers from different countries on the study of mineral genesis, hydrocarbons, and ore deposits became strategically critical. Collaborative research results were expected to identify formation conditions and aid in locating new deposits.
In this context, two landmark events occurred in 1958. First, a unique agreement in the history of Soviet-American relations was signed: the Lacy-Zarubin Agreement, which governed exchanges in science, technology, education, and culture.
In other words, the two superpowers engaged in the Cold War were willing to compromise to achieve tangible scientific results. While formally a framework agreement, the Lacy-Zarubin Agreement included clear targets and, in certain overlapping sections, specific names. Within the first year and a half of its implementation, over 120 projects were executed in areas such as inorganic chemistry, Arctic research, ferrous metallurgy, and mining (including mineralogy and iron ore exploration), among others.
The second milestone of 1958 was the establishment of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA). This organization, which now includes 38 national member organizations, was formed following several years of active discussions among leading global experts. They recognized the need for a unified scientific community to advance the field of mineralogy, coordinate specialized research, and systematize all known minerals, including new discoveries. One of the key figures behind its creation was Soviet scientist Dmitry Grigoriev.
At the founding congress in Spain, where Dmitry Pavlovich participated as the official representative of the Russian Mineralogical Society, he was elected vice president and a founding member of the IMA.
The authority of the Russian school of mineralogy has always been indisputable. As a successor to the ideas of Lomonosov, Vasily Severgin, the father of Russian mineralogy; Yevgraf Fedorov, the pioneer of modern structural crystallography; and Alexander Zavaritsky, the founder of petrology, a new branch of the science of rocks and rock-forming minerals, these names serve as landmark references for global geology.
The development of science is driven by the efforts of thousands of scientists, field geologists, and collectors; however, paradigm shifts, groundbreaking discoveries, and the emergence of new, promising directions are often associated with the names of innovators. These creators of "new mineralogy," sometimes referred to as "advanced mineralogy" by specialists, include Dmitry Grigoriev.
Born in 1909 in Perm, Grigoriev began his education in geology at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Leningrad State University in 1929. However, following a reorganization, the entire geological education structure, along with its students and faculty, was transferred to the Mining Institute. When the decision was made in 1931 to re-establish geological education at Leningrad State University, many chose to stay at the country’s oldest technical university. Grigoriev not only completed his studies there, earning his degree as a mining engineer, but also dedicated his entire career to the Department of Mineralogy until his death in 2003.
Grigoriev's name is associated with several landmark achievements:
The Birth of Experimental Mineralogy in the USSR: In 1934, Grigoriev established the first experimental mineralogy and petrology laboratory at the Department of Mineralogy of the Mining Institute. Its pioneering research gained international recognition. He studied silicate melts and the crystallization processes of rock-forming minerals, successfully reproducing liquation (substance separation) in these melts. Grigoriev was the first to synthesize amphiboles and magnesium-iron micas from fluorine-bearing melts, substituting hydroxyl with fluorine. This research laid the foundation for the industrial production of fluorophlogopite—a synthetic mineral widely used in various industries as a substitute for natural mica.
His work initiated extensive experimental mineralogical studies in the Soviet Union, making him the founder of experimental mineralogy. This discipline was closely tied to the creation of artificial minerals crucial for industry. Grigoriev established a similar laboratory at the Institute of Geological Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Grigoriev gained international acclaim through his development of a groundbreaking direction in mineralogy—the ontogeny of minerals, which focuses on the genesis and evolution of mineral individuals and aggregates in their natural geological environment, from the moment of their formation, growth, and transformation, to their eventual destruction.
His first brief essay on this topic was published in 1947. By 1955, he had introduced the term "ontogeny of minerals" into the field of mineralogy. By the 1960s, Grigoriev's ideas had been translated into all major languages, incorporated into mineralogical textbooks across nearly all developed nations, and inspired hundreds of studies and explorations in this emerging area of mineral science.
After Grigoriev's thorough research, it became inadequate to define the genesis of minerals with simplistic terms like "magmatic," "pneumatolytic," or "hydrothermal." His new teachings on the laws governing the formation, transformation, and destruction of minerals necessitated a more detailed description of their key distinguishing features—one that encompassed their birth, growth, transformations, and the geological processes of mineral formation. This led to the establishment of a foundational framework upon which modern mineralogical science and practice continue to thrive.
Grigoriev's achievements elevated him to the ranks of a world-class scientist. In 1958, he was invited to the founding congress of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) as an expert with voting rights. Not only did he join its presidium, but he also became a co-founder and chair of the Commission on Cosmic Mineralogy and a member of the Commission on New Minerals under the IMA. By this time, as the chair of the Commission on New Minerals of the All-Union Mineralogical Society in the USSR, Grigoriev had already amassed vast expertise in establishing standards for mineral novelty, conducting research, crafting descriptions, and collecting reference specimens.
Modern statistical analyses clearly show a significant acceleration in the discovery of new minerals during the 1960s. Science historians attribute this trend to the active work initiated by the national and international Commissions on New Minerals, shaped under the leadership of figures like Grigoriev.
Dmitry Pavlovich authored over 300 scientific works, including 7 monographs, and was a co-author of the scientific discovery of the crystal-morphological evolution of minerals in time and space. However, he considered his main life's work to be the scientific and pedagogical training of highly qualified mineralogists. Over 70 years at the Mining Institute, Professor Grigoriev introduced innovative ideas on the rationalization of the educational process, which he shared in meetings, publications, and, starting in 1990, through essays titled "From the Experience of Teaching Mineralogy" in the Notes of the All-Russian Mineralogical Society. These essays formed a coherent ideological and methodological system.
Dozens of renowned scientists consider him their teacher and mentor. Many later admitted in their memoirs that they "were quite afraid of him—he was very strict during lectures and exams, though undeniably fair." Stories about "DP," as graduates of the Leningrad Mining Institute fondly referred to Dmitry Pavlovich, are still used to humorously caution young geology students.
For example, Grigoriev firmly believed that a geologist must be exceptionally observant of the surrounding world and their own perceptions of it. "After all, the search for minerals is called geological exploration for a reason," he used to joke. During exams, he might suddenly ask about the number of steps on the portico of the main building or the number of columns in the museum.
«Once, while we were standing in front of a magnificent quartz crystal cluster near an equally unique malachite boulder, Dmitry Pavlovich remarked that the museum's reserves held equally beautiful specimens. When we asked why those were not displayed to replace a rather unremarkable showcase of bauxite, he replied, 'As specialists, you must learn this harsh truth: in life, dull and scratched crystals are more common than bright, sparkling ones. Learn to equally value the diamond in a ring, the gray quartz grain in granite, and the flake of kaolinite in the slippery post-rain clay that will inevitably dirty you», - recalled his student, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Yuri Voytekhovsky.
Dmitry Pavlovich served for several decades as the scientific director of the Mineralogical Department of the Mining Museum and considered its vast collections to be invaluable for the study of systematic mineralogy. He referred to the museum as a "stone book," capable of teaching the entirety of a continuously updated course.
The scientist passed away in 2003 in Saint Petersburg.
Today, the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) organizes commissions, working groups, and committees in specific areas to bring together experts from around the world for coordinated research. Every four years, one of its member societies hosts the IMA meeting, attended by leading scientists, making it the world's premier mineralogical event.
Experimental mineralogy and the artificial production of minerals for industrial purposes have seen tremendous development in the USSR and later in Russia. Today, for example, diamonds are used in aerospace and rocket engineering, as well as in manufacturing tools for material processing. Synthetic rubies, sapphires, and emeralds are applied in metallurgy, microelectronics, and solid-state lasers.