Anna Akhmatova is an outstanding 20th century Russian poetess. In her life she knew both fame and persecution. Despite two official bans on the publication of her poems in Soviet times Akhmatova was lucky to have an aboard that made it easier for her to endure pain and injustice. A house on the embankment of the river Fontanka in St.-Petersburg where she lived is now a museum. Akhmatova's personal belongings, photos and manuscripts are reminiscent of her presence.
When a fellow poet complained to her of not being recognized she pronounced gravely: "One can't give anything to or take away anything from a real poet". Dictated by the experience of 60 years every minute of which was devoted to poetry, this aphorism of hers sounded like a spell.
Lost amid modern houses on the bank of the Fontanka stands the time-withered and wind-shattered Sheremetyev palace. There in the left wing of an outbuilding, on the second floor Akhmatova and her second husband, art critic Nikolai Lunin spent their happiest and hardest years. 3 decades after Akhmatova's death this house is a solemn reminder of her glorious and tragic destiny.
She moved into the "Fontanka" house in the early 20s after she married Lunin. On the walls one can see photos of Osip Mandelshtam, Boris Pasternak and other well-known poets, writers and musicians who were frequent guests at merry parties and literary gatherings hosted by Lunin and Akhmatova. Things worsened in the beginning of the 30s.
"Our flat became cold and communal. The door-keeper wouldn't let you in unless you produced a special card certifying that your lodger's status", Akhmatova recalled. She couldn't know then that five years later her husband Nikolai Lunin and her only son by the first marriage Lev Gumilev would be put in prison. Akhmatova's first husband, poet Nikolai Gumilev was shot by bolsheviks in 1921 for his involvement in a mutiny. In the late 30s her best friend Osip Mandelshtam and lots of other people she loved died in stalinist labor camps.
Lunin's diary shows how important the "Fontanka" house was to Akhmatova: "You can do without bread and comfort, the only thing you want is more of the Fontanka". The family motto of the Sheremetyevs - God Preserves Everything - carved on the house's facade became Akhmatova's guiding principle.
Not long ago the first monument to Anna Akhmatova was unveiled in Moscow, on Bolshaya Ordynka street where she often came to visit her friends. The statue is a bronze replica of the famous drawing made by Akhmatova's friend Amedeo Midigliani. Speaking at the ceremony, Russia's Culture Minister Mikhail Shvydkoi said: "For years on we will be rediscovering Akhmatova's poems, finding that they are in tune with our times" .
Anna Akhmatova is an outstanding 20th century Russian poetess. In her life she knew both fame and persecution. Despite two official bans on the publication of her poems in Soviet times Akhmatova was lucky to have an aboard that made it easier for her to endure pain and injustice. A house on the embankment of the river Fontanka in St.-Petersburg where she lived is now a museum. Akhmatova's personal belongings, photos and manuscripts are reminiscent of her presence.