This is not taught at school: the secrets of Anna Akhmatova's personal life
July 23 is a special date in Russia. In 2019, this day marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of the Russian poetess Anna Akhmatova, the creativity of which is still going on in school years.
But as part of the school curriculum, little is said about what this amazing woman really waswhat she lived, what she dreamed about, why she did incredible things and she simply thought up half of her biography, hiding some facts that became obvious only recently.
Anna Andreevna Gorenko, the daughter of a marine engineer, was born near Odessa on July 23, 1889. A large family, where there were six children, kept on the wisdom and patience of Anna's mother, who devoted herself entirely to the children. A year after the birth of Anna, the family moved to Tsarskoe Selo.
The girl grew up impressionable, vulnerable, painful. Anna met her first husband when she was only 14 years old.... Nikolai Gumilyov was 17 at that time, and the young man was captivated by the strange and unusual beauty of Anna - gray deep eyes, black and thick hair and a completely Greek antique profile with a slight hump. What else did the young poet need for inspiration?
Anna was not a beauty in the conventional sense of the time, but she was a beauty for him - Gumilyov. She just didn't look like anyone else.
Exactly 10 years Gumilev diligently courted Gorenko, gave flowers, wrote poetry to her. And one day he decided on outright stupidity, for which he could pay dearly - he picked flowers for her for her birthday under the windows of the imperial palace. But everything worked out, he was not caught.
Anna remained unapproachable like a rock. Out of despair, Gumilev tried to commit suicide. Most likely, it was an impulsive trick of a vulnerable poetic soul, with which he hoped to attract the attention of his beloved, but Anna got scared and stopped communicating with Gumilyov.
Anna began to write poetry, taking a creative pseudonym in honor of her great-grandmother, whose family lineage descended from Akhmat Khan - Akhmatov. Gumilyov was obsessed with the idea of getting married and continued to propose to her. Historians say that during this time he made about three unsuccessful attempts at suicide, but this issue is controversial.
It is difficult to say what Anna was thinking when unexpectedly in 1909 agreed to marry Gumilyov... She considered this to be fate, not love, which she herself wrote about in letters to friends that were preserved in the archives. She asked not to blame her for this decision.
Anna's relatives unanimously declared that such a marriage was doomed from the outset. None of them honored the wedding ceremony with their presence. Anna wanted to make unhappy Gumilyov happy... But, as is often the case with creative people, having received what he wanted, Nikolai cooled down and lost interest in his wife. He embarked on travel, if only to be at home less often.
Two years after the wedding, Anna Akhmatova released the first collection of her poems, and in the same year her son Leo was born. Gumilyov was not ready for paternity even more than for marriage. He didn't like baby crying... The child was given to the upbringing of the mother-in-law, the mother of Nikolai.
Having experienced all this, Anna continued to write, but she changed dramatically - from a girl she turned into a majestic woman. She has fans.
With the outbreak of the First World War, Gumilev found an excuse to go to the front, was wounded, and after being wounded, he remained to live in Paris. Anna felt like a widow with her husband alive. She stayed in Russia.
When patience ran out, she asked for a divorce and married a second time to Vladimir Shileiko, a scientist and poet. It was a step of despair, Anna later called the second marriage "intermediate". Vladimir was ugly, pathologically jealous. He did not allow Anna to leave their homes, forced her to rewrite translations of her scientific works and chop wood for heating. He forbade her to correspond with friends, burned letters, and finally forbade her to write poetry. It all ended with her escape from home and divorce.
After the arrest of her ex-husband Gumilyov, Akhmatova fell out of favor with the authorities. It was not published, it was on the verge of poverty. Akhmatova wore one hat and one old coat in any weather. But with what greatness she wore these old things!
The third and common-law husband of Anna was the critic and historian Nikolai Punin. He brought his wife to his home, where his first wife and daughter continued to live. The relationship turned into an eternal triangle, painful for everyone. Anna was given a sofa and a small table. This was her territory. Punin was still a sufferer - he was tormented by the fact that his wife was more talented than he was. He humiliated Anna regularly.
During the years of repression, both Punin and his son Lev were sent into exile on a denunciation by someone. During the Great Patriotic War, Anna self-handedly stood watch on the roofs, dug trenches in Leningrad. She was evacuated to Tashkent.
After the war, she was stripped of her membership in the Writers' Union, ration cards were taken away, and she was not allowed to print.
Anna was rehabilitated only 4 years before her death.
Until her death, Akhmatova remained a beautiful and proud woman who was not broken by circumstances or menwith whom she, frankly, was not too lucky. There were also short fleeting novels in her life, but the poet never found true happiness.
