Anna Akhmatova: a Painful Journey Remembered

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Anna Akhmatova: A Painful Journey Remembered While it is obviously a good practice to remember with gratitude one’s privileges and comforts, occasionally a reminder in the stark contrast of the life of another is helpful. During a century filled with violence and social upheaval, the life of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova spanned the time of upheaval in Russia, as she lived through both World Wars, the Bolshevik Revolution, and the reign of Stalin. Akhmatova’s life was filled with hardship, loss, discomfort, anxiety and poverty, and yet, she took the suffering and with it created some of the most beautiful poetry of loss and love to come of the 20th century. Born Anna Andreevna Gorenko on June 23, 1889, Anna would take the surname of a maternal ancestor, rather than bring shame to her father, who belonged to the aristocracy and was appalled at the thought of his daughter as a poet. She was one of six siblings, two of whom would die before Anna was twenty. While Anna, one of the middle children in the family, was always in poor health, she would outlive all but one of her siblings, as robust health was not one of the family’s gifts. Family harmony was also not enjoyed, as father Andrey was a handsome womanizer, and mother Inna, raised in wealth, had great difficulty tolerating his unfaithfulness and the family’s modest means. A beautiful woman, Inna was always loved by her daughter, and when the inevitable marital breakup came, Anna would distance herself from her father (Feinstein14-21). Through her mother’s behavior, Anna would see great religious piety, and both parents were fairly liberal in their political leanings, sympathizing with the aims of “People’s Will,” which has been described as “a Socialist revolutionary group responsible for several political assassinations” (15). Although aristocrats by birth, the
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