He was an illegitimate son of
Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia and the French actress Clara-Anna de Laurens. At birth, the boy was named
Konstantin Konstantinovich Konstantinov . His father was childless in two marriages, so he spent considerable funds on the upbringing and education of his illegitimate children. For example, music lessons for Konstantin and his sister Constance were given by the young
Frédéric Chopin, who was often invited for this purpose to Belvedere, the summer Warsaw residence of the Grand Duke. Constantine Pavlovich's family circumstances were such that his children, Constance and Konstantin, were considered wards (adopted children) of Prince Ivan Alexandrovich Golitsyn, the Grand Duke's adjutant. It was for this reason that their patronymics were subsequently changed. In 1831, during the Polish uprising, Constantine Pavlovich left Poland for Russia, but fell ill with
cholera on the way and died in
Vitebsk. Prince Golitsyn, together with the 13-year-old Konstantin and his mother Clara-Anne de Laurens, settled in St. Petersburg. In January 1834, fulfilling the will of the late Constantine Pavlovich, Prince Golitsyn assigned the 15-year-old Konstantin to the prestigious Mikhailovskoye Artillery School as a cadet. Konstantinov graduated from
Mikhailovskoye Artillery School in
St. Petersburg in 1836. In 1844, he invented a device for measuring the flight speed of
projectiles at any point of their
trajectory. In 1847, Konstantinov created a
ballistic rocket
pendulum, which would allow to establish a law of changing rocket motion in time. With the help of this device, he was able to determine the influence of the form and design of a rocket on its ballistic characteristics, thereby laying the foundations for calculated rocket designs. In 1849, he was appointed commander of the Petersburg Rocketry Department (Петербургское ракетное заведение). In 1861, he supervised the construction of a rocket factory in
Nikolayev, which he would head six years later. Konstantinov is known to have created structurally perfect
missiles (for the 19th century) with a range of 4 to 5 km,
launch pads, and rocket-making machines. He authored a number of works on rocket science, artillery,
firearms,
pyrotechnics, and
aeronautics. A
crater on the
far side of the Moon is named after him. == See also ==