Anna Akhmatova

Anna Akhmatova, born Anna Andreyevna Gorenko (1889–1966), was a Russian and Soviet poet. Her work ranges from short lyric poems to intricately structured cycles such as Requiem (1935–40), her masterpiece about the Stalinist terror, and is known for its economy and emotional restraint. Condemned and censored by the Stalinist authorities, she chose not to emigrate and remained in the Soviet Union. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1965 and 1966.

June 23, 1889