Anna Akhmatova was born on June 23, 1889 in Odessa, Ukraine. She was the third born out of six kids. She started writing as a young teenager. Her father was afraid that she would disgrace the family name so she took the last name of her great-grandmother. She is best know for a book of poems called Chetki which is translated to Rosary. This book was published in 1914 and contains 52 poems. She is remembered as one of the greatest Russian poets ever. She also wrote a few autobiographies and memoirs in addition to her poems. While Christmas shopping in 1903, Akhmatova met the poet Nikolai Gumilev. Akhmatova heavily leaned on Gumilev for advice as she began her writing career as a teenager. After multiple failed proposals, Akhmatova at last accepted his request and married him in 1910. While in Paris on their honeymoon she met a struggling artist named Amedeo Modigliana. This unlikely meeting "was perhaps one of the most extraordinary events of Akhmatova’s youth" as the two stayed in contact even after she left Paris ("Anna Akhmatova," poetry foundation). He continued to write letters to her until they met again in Paris in 1911. He also inspired her to write one of her first published poems called "When you're drunk it's so much fun" which sparked an interest in her works.…show more content… In 1949, Lev was arrested by the government in an attempt to silence his mother. In an attempt to free Lev "Akhmatova wrote poems in praise of Stalin and the government, but it was of no use" ("Anna Akhmatova," poets). Lev remained imprisoned for his entire sentence and was released from the labor camps in 1956. In 1958 Akhmatova began writing poems again but this time she was more careful about what she wrote. Akhmatova became an advisor for many young poets after Lev's release. She also requested that publishers exclude her poems that were complementary to Stalin in her collected
