Akhmadulina, Bella (1937–)

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Akhmadulina, Bella (1937–)

Russian poet, translator, and essayist. Born Izabella Akhatovna Akhmadulina, April 10, 1937, in Moscow, USSR; only child of a Tartar father and Russian-Italian mother; raised primarily by maternal grandmother; m. Yevgeny Yevtushenko (poet), 1954; m. Yuri Nagibin (short-story writer), 1960; m. Gennadi Mamlin (children's writer); m. Boris Messerer (artist and stage designer), 1974; children: Elizaveta and Anna.

Though her poetry appeared then abruptly disappeared due to censorship, emerged as one of the most lauded 20th-century poets of her nation, often compared with Anna Akhmatova and Marina Tsvetaeva; with the exception of a brief evacuation during WWII to the Urals, was educated in Moscow schools; graduated from high school (1954); worked for the newspaper Metrostroevets; career was launched during the Soviet censorship thaw, with the help of writer Pavel Antokolskii; had 1st poem published (1955); attended Gorky Literary Institute but was soon expelled for writing apolitical verse; aided by Antokolskii, was reinstated and completed her studies at Gorky (1960); came to prominence (1962) with the publication of her 1st book, Struna (The String); was expelled from the Writers' Union (1960s) and silenced for her participation in the journal Metropol (1979), which assisted young writers not published by the official press; was not permitted to publish again until 1983; efforts on behalf of lesser-known writers extended to translations of poets in smaller, former Soviet republics, including Georgia; noted for her lyricism and use of traditional Russian forms, writings include Oznob (Fever, 1968), Uroki Muzyki (Music Lesson, 1969), Metell (1977), Sad (1987), Poberezhye (1991), Gryada Kamnei (1995), and Odnazhdy v Dekabre (1996).

See also Sonia I. Ketchian, The Poetic Craft of Bella Akhmadulina (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993).

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Akhmadulina, Bella (1937–)

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