Calendar Notes

120 & 210 years ago Poetic Twins

Alexander Pushkin (born June 6, 1799) and Anna Akhmatova (born June 11, 1889) had much in common besides being born under the same sign (Gemini: the twins). Not only were both poets recognized early to have great talent, both struggled against the powers that be, both had tragic personal lives, and both left behind almost unequaled literary legacies. Pushkin butted heads with Tsar Nicholas, who eventually became his “personal censor,” and Akhmatova, who spent much of her life studying Pushkin, was relentlessly persecuted by the Soviet regime, her husband and son both sent off to the camps, while she remained behind to endure the Leningrad Blockade. Pushkin died February 10, 1837. Akhmatova died on March 5, 1966. 

245 years ago  Smolny Institute Opened