Akhmatova, Anna

Anna Akhmatova

Anna Akhmatova

Read a selection of poetry from Anna Akhmatova

Russian poet Anna Akhmatova was born  Anna Andreyevna Gorenko in 1889 near Odessa. Being from an upper class family her father disapproved of her desire to write poetry, and insisted she use a pen name.

Before writing her masterpiece, Requiem, dealing with the Stalinist terror she and her family lived through, her works were mostly short and lyrical.

As well as being an extremely gifted poet, Akhmatova also translated works of other literary greats, including Rabindranath Tagore and Victor Hugo. In 1964 she was awarded the Etna-Taormina prize and in 1965 received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University.

After suffering a heart attack in November 1965, Akhmatova died in 1996 of heart failure in Leningrad. Memorial services were held in both Moscow and Leningrad.

1964 she was awarded the Etna-Taormina prize and an honorary doctorate from Oxford University in 1965 – See more at: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/1#sthash.dlrWCS7Y.dpuf
1964 she was awarded the Etna-Taormina prize and an honorary doctorate from Oxford University in 1965 – See more at: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/1#sthash.dlrWCS7Y.dpuf
1964 she was awarded the Etna-Taormina prize and an honorary doctorate from Oxford University in 1965 – See more at: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/1#sthash.dlrWCS7Y.dpuf

Read a selection of poetry from Anna Akhmatova