However, after two years of music training, he entered the University of Saint Petersburg in 1877 to study chemistry under Nikolai Menshchutkin and botany under Andrei Sergeevich Famintzin.
Men efter to år af musikuddannelse kom han til Universitetet i Sankt Petersborg i 1877 at studere kemi under Nikolai Menshchutkin og botanik under Andrei Sergejevitj Famintzin.