Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966) is considered one of the greatest Russian poets. She lived and wrote poetry in both the pre-revolutionary Russia and in the Soviet era, and yet, according to the Poetry Foundation “her verse protected the traditions of classical Russian culture from the onslaught of avant-garde radicalism and formal experimentation, as well as from the suffocating ideological strictures of socialist realism.”
In mid-October, Wellesley College’s professor Marjorie Agosin – also a poet, human rights activist, and literary critic—spoke about Akhmatova´s life and work in the context of the series the commemorate the one hundred years of the Russian Revolution jointly organized by the Santiago Center and local universities Católica de Valparaíso, Católica de Chile and Universidad de Chile. During the event, Agosin read some of Ahmatova’s poems, discussed her initial work as well as that of the Stalin years, talked about her turbulent personal life and presented the documentary Fear and the Muse: The Story of Anna Akhmatova (Jill Janows, 1991.)
The series on the one hundred years of the Russian Revolution will also feature a lecture by Columbia’s professor of History Catherine Evtuhov, entitled “Was there a Russian Revolution in 2017? A View Russia’s Imperial Period” scheduled for November 22.
