There in the reading hall of the Department of world literature is organized a book exhibition dedicated to the 125-th birthday of the renowned Russian poetess of the ХХ-th century, literary critic and translator Anna Andreyevna Akhmatova (1889-1966).

   A.A.Akhmatova is one of the most well-known Russian poetesses of the XX-th century, literary critic and translator was born on June 23, 1889 near Odessa in the family of the fleet engineer, her real name is Gorenko. Her father didn’t approve her affection for poetry and the poetess started signing her verses with the surname of her great grandmother – the Tartar countess Akhmatova. Akhmatova recollected that she was learning to read using the ABC by Leo Tolstoi. When she was five years old, by listening how the tutor woman was studying with the elder children, she learned to speak French. Her childhood passed in Tsarskoye Selo where she met the love of her whole life – N.Gumilev. She finished the Higher women’s courses in Kyev and then the Higher historical-literary courses in Petersbourg.
   In 1910 she married Nikolai Gumilev, from whom in 1912 she gave birth to the son Leo Nikolayevich. The active literary activity of Akhmatova began in 1910. In between the years of 1912 and 1922 she published the collections: “The evening”, “The beads”, “The white flock”, “The plantain”, “Anno Domini MCMXXI”. Regardless of the critical position assumed towards the October revolution in 1917 she didn’t leave Russia, but was persecuted by the new authorities. In 1924 Akhmatova stopped to be published. In 1926 there had to be published the two-volume collection of her verses but the publication didn’t take place regardless of  the long and persistent efforts and fussing. Only in 1940 there saw light a small collection named “From six books” and the next two ones – in the 1960-s – “The verses” (1961), “The running time” (1965).
   During the years of the Great Patriotic war she wrote a number of patriotic verses. In 1948 she became an object of attacks of the chief ideologist of the country Zhdanov (the 1-st secretary of the regional party committee of Leningrad) and was excluded from the Union of Soviet writers.
   Akhmatova had quite a tragic fate. Although she herself never was convicted or exiled, many people near to her were subjected to cruel repressions. Her first husband N.S.Gumilev was executed in 1921. The third civil husband N.N.Punin was arrested three times and perished in the concentration camp. And finally the son of the poetess Leo Gumilev spent more than 10 years in conviction. All the pain and grief of the losses were reflected in “Requiem” (1935-1940) – in one of the most significant works of the poetess.
   Being recognized by the classics of the XX-th century, Akhmatova for a long time was subjected to oblivion and persecution. Many of her works were not published due to the censorship and were prohibited for decades even after her death.
   In the 1960-s there came to Akhmatova at last the world recognition. Her verses appeared in translations into the Italian, English and French languages, there abroad started to be published her poetical collections. In 1962 Akhmatova was awarded the international poetical prize named “Ethna-Taormina” in connection with the fact of the 50-th anniversary of her poetical activity and publication in Italy of the collection of selected works by Akhmatova. In 1965 she received the diploma of honorary doctor of Oxford University.
   In the autumn of 1965 Anna Andreyevna had the fourth infarction and on March 5, 1966 she died in the cardiological sanatorium near Moscow and was buried at the cemetery near Leningrad.

   There at the book exhibition from the fond of the National library of the RK are presented the creative works of A.A.Akhmatova and the literature about her in different languages of the world.