The Presidential Library’s Poetry Club to mark Osip Mandelstam’s anniversary

A literary campaign Pilgrim, timed to coincide with the anniversary of Osip Mandelstam, will be launched on January 15, 2021 at 12:00 on the page of the Presidential Library’s Poetry Club on the VKontakte social network.  This day marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest poets of the 20th century.

Osip Mandelstam began to study foreign languages ​​and literature as a child. He left in his legacy not only poems of his own authorship, but also brilliant translations of works by Francesco Petrarca, Jean Racine, Stéphane Mallarmé and other famous poets. In addition, Osip Mandelstam wrote articles and essays. One of the striking examples of his work as a researcher is the article On the Nature of the Word. Published in 1922, it is presented on the Presidential Library's portal. In total, during the life of the poet, ten books of poetry and four books of prose were published, except publications in magazines.

The literary campaign of the Presidential Library dedicated to Osip Mandelstam is not accidentally named Pilgrim. The entire poet's life was accompanied by homelessness and deep spiritual loneliness. He wandered during the Civil War, went through prison and exile, and died in a transit camp. “He looked like a lost child who cannot get used to the new environment, to new conditions, but, unlike the child, he did not want to return to his house, however, perhaps because he never had a home" - the poet and prose writer Rurik Ivnev recalled Osip Mandelstam. A similar characteristic is available in the memoirs of the writer Nikolai Chukovsky: "He never had not only any property, but also a permanent settled life - he lived a vagabond life".

On January 15, on the page of the Presidential Library's Poetry Club on the VKontakte social network, everyone will have opportunity to learn about poetic dedications to Osip Mandelstam written by contemporary authors, as well as with creative performances by musicians, performers and readers from different regions of Russia.