Mandelstam - The Essays

Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam (1891–1938) was a prominent Russian and Soviet poet, central to the Acmeist school of poetry. He was born in Warsaw, then a part of the Russian Empire, to a wealthy Polish-Jewish family. Mandelstam grew up in Saint Petersburg, attending the prestigious Tenishev School, and publishing his first poems in 1907. Mandelstam’s university education was split between the Sorbonne, Heidelberg University and finally the University of Saint Petersburg, where he declared himself a Methodist in order to bypass restrictions against Jews.

His literary career flourished with his involvement in the Poets’ Guild and the formation of the Acmeist movement. His works such as the prose essay “The Morning of Acmeism” and his poetry collection “Stone” displayed his evolving style, his later verse moving from populist themes to symbolist imagery. Mandelstam’s poetic career was, however, overshadowed by political turmoil. A poem of 1933 criticising Stalin led to his arrest in 1934 and internal exile to Cherdyn with his wife, Nadezhda.

Mandelstam subsequently relocated to Voronezh. Despite the strains of exile, he continued to write, notably producing the “Voronezh Notebooks.” His second arrest, which occurred in 1938 during the Great Purge, led to his internment in a correction camp. He died of typhoid later that year in a transit camp near Vladivostok, a victim of the oppressive regime he had dared to critique.

Mandelstam’s legacy lies not only in his poetry and essays but also in the efforts of his wife Nadezhda, who preserved his texts and shared their life story in her memoirs. Posthumously, Mandelstam was rehabilitated during the Khrushchev thaw, allowing wider distribution of his collected works.  

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