Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966) was a Russian poet and a leading light of modern Russian poetry of the 20th century. Condemned and censored by the Stalinist regime, her poetry was outspoken in its criticism of Soviet totalitarianism. She wrote many short lyrics and also a longer cycle of poems, Requiem, which highlighted the persecution and oppression of Russians under Soviet rule. While she had an opportunity to flee her native country, Akhmatova chose to stay as a witness to the tyranny under which she and her fellow countrymen suffered. Her first husband, fellow poet Nikolay Gumilyov (1886-1921), was executed by the Soviet secret police, and her son and second husband were exiled to the Gulag work camps. In the 1960s, her reputation was resuscitated and she was allowed to travel more freely, thereby affording the West greater access to her work. Her poems and life both stand as a testament to all nations which seek the easy path of state control over human freedom, groupthink and fake news over conscience and the truth.
Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966) was a Russian poet and a leading light of modern Russian poetry of the 20th century. Condemned and censored by the Stalinist regime, her poetry was outspoken in its criticism of Soviet totalitarianism. She wrote many short lyrics and also a longer cycle of poems, Requiem, which highlighted the persecution and oppression of Russians under Soviet rule. While she had an opportunity to flee her native country, Akhmatova chose to stay as a witness to the tyranny under which she and her fellow countrymen suffered. Her first husband, fellow poet Nikolay Gumilyov (1886-1921), was executed by the Soviet secret police, and her son and second husband were exiled to the Gulag work camps. In the 1960s, her reputation was resuscitated and she was allowed to travel more freely, thereby affording the West greater access to her work. Her poems and life both stand as a testament to all nations which seek the easy path of state control over human freedom, groupthink and fake news over conscience and the truth.
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