Alexander (Elmar) Yakovlevich Perna was born on December 6, 1878, into the family of a public school teacher in the Estland Governorate. He studied at the 7th Petrograd Gymnasium and, from his gymnasium years, showed a particular interest in natural science. Upon graduating from the gymnasium in 1898, Alexander Yakovlevich enrolled in the Natural Sciences Division of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Petrograd University, where he was initially especially drawn to organic chemistry. After graduating from the University in 1902, he entered the Mining Institute. On December 3, 1916, he died of a heart condition in a Finnish boarding house. In the person of Alexander Yakovlevich, our homeland lost not only a talented young scientist who undoubtedly showed great promise, but also a man of exceptional high moral qualities and a distinctive and profound thinker and philosopher.