The brothers’ tempers differed: Mitya was a merry fellow and joker, while Vanya was serious and thoughtful. They valued each other for the qualities they lacked. In Ryazan, the brothers studied together at the religious school and then at the seminary. The elder Ivan was the first to leave for Saint Petersburg and he immediately felt the absence of his brother and his care.
When he became a student, Ivan Pavlov did not know how to manage his finances rationally. After having spent everything down to the last kopeck, he had to go to a public kitchen, where he took free bread and mustard. Because of this, he earned catarrhal gastritis and later fell ill with neurosis — a mental disorder. His exams were postponed until autumn, and Ivan went to his native city Ryazan to regain his health. The future academician quickly recovered at home and returned to Saint Petersburg, but this time his brother Dmitry came along.
Mitya was fond of chemistry ever since he was a child — his room was full of various flasks, reagents, and books. Dmitry Petrovich Pavlov became a professor of chemistry at the Agricultural Institute of the city of Nowa Aleksandria, Lublin Governorate, and every time he came to Saint Petersburg, he stayed with his brother Ivan.
Dmitry Pavlov did not have children of his own and grew very attached to his elder brother’s family. The children of Ivan Petrovich loved their uncle very much and called him Uncle Mipa. He showered them with gifts, played and composed fairy tales with them — for example, “Lanka’s Sea”. Dmitry Petrovich died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 52.
