Anna Andrejewna Achmatowa
June 23 1889 – March 5, 1966
was a Russian modernist poet, one of the most acclaimed writers in theRussian canon.Akhmatova's work ranges from short lyric poems to intricately structured cycles, such as Requiem, her tragic masterpiece about the Stalinist terror. Her style, characterised by its economy and emotional restraint, was strikingly original and distinctive to her contemporaries. Her work was condemned and censored by Stalinist authorities and she is notable for choosing not to emigrate, and remaining in Russia, acting as witness to the atrocities around her.