The first name of Dmitri Mendeleev’s father was Ivan. His father was Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev, a school principal and teacher in Siberia.
Ivan Pavlovich worked at gymnasiums in Tobolsk and later in Tambov and Saratov, teaching subjects that included Russian literature, fine arts, politics, and philosophy. He became blind around the time Dmitri was born and lost his teaching position, leaving the family in serious financial difficulty.
Mendeleev’s patronymic, Ivanovich, literally means “son of Ivan,” which is a useful clue but not the sole evidence for the answer. A common mix-up is to confuse his father with his grandfather, Pavel Maximovich Sokolov. The family name Mendeleev entered the paternal line when Pavel’s son took it at a theological seminary, reportedly after a local landowner.