Now available for the first time in English, Oleg Lekmanov’s critically acclaimed Mandelstam presents the maverick Russian poet’s life and work to a wider audience and includes the most reliable details of the poet’s life, which were recently found and released from the KGB archives. Through his engaging narrative, Lekmanov carries the reader through Mandelstam’s early life and education in pre-revolutionary Petersburg, at the Sorbonne in Paris, and in Heidelberg and his return to revolutionary Russia. Bold and fearless, he was quoted as saying: “Only in Russia do they respect poetry. They even kill you for it.” Osip Mandelstam compared a writer to a parrot, saying that once his owner tires of him, he will cover his cage with black cloth, which becomes for literature a surrogate of night. In 1938, Mandelstam was arrested and six months later became a statistic: over 500,000 political prisoners were sent to the Gulags in 1938; between 1931 and 1940, over 300,000 prisoners died in the Gulags. One of them was the poet Osip Mandelstam. This is the tragic story of his life, pre-empted by the black cloth of Stalinism.

Oleg Lekmanov is a professor at Moscow State University. His main interest has focused on Russian poetry of the twentieth century. Dr. Lekmanov has authored over two hundred articles and his latest papers explore the creative writings of O. Mandelstam, A. Akhmatova, and A. Solzhenitsyn. He is the author of Book on Akmeism (2000) and Sergei Esenin (2007, with Michail Sverdlov).

“Oleg Lekmanov’s life of the Russian poet, Osip Mandelstam, is a stark reminder of what happens in a society that descends mindlessly into authoritarianism wherein all things human in time are rendered meaningless. Lekmanov’s concise, fact-driven biography charts the heartbreaking story of Mandelstam’s hounded life in sharp detail.”

—Thomas Sanfilip, Literary Yard, October 2024

“Lekmanov’s book contains insightful observations of the poems and convincing attempts at psychological reconstruction. The author does not attempt to conceal the hero’s “idiosyncrasies” and manages to forego engaging in “objective Schadenfreude”. Mandelstam was at times funny, hysterical, naïve, but even in the most curious guise he managed to maintain high stature, without which his poetry would not have been possible. Such stature was the stuff of legends. It is also wonderfully illuminated here by amusing (though occasionally common and mean) anecdotes. This is the image of Mandelstam that Lekmanov presents, reminding us of the inherent kinship between poetry and nobleness."

— Andrei Nemzer, “Vremya Novostei,” on the original Russian edition

"A specialist in Russian poetry of the 20th century, Lekmanov (Moscow State U.) discusses the life and work of Russian poet Osip Mandelstam (1891-1938), emphasizing his conflicting desires to be part of society and to stand apart from it. He also sorts through the condemnation of his character and behavior by many contemporaries, and vehement denial of the accusations by others. He begins before the first "Stone" 1891-1913, and progresses through "Tristia" in 1922, "Poems" in 1928, before the arrest 1928-34, and the final years."

— Book News Inc. (Portland, OR)

"Lekmanov makes an important contribution to understanding and appreciation of Mandelstam's life and work. Highly Recommended."

—V. D. Barooshian, emeritus, Wells College, CHOICE

". . . an invaluable text for the undergraduate student intent on studying Mandel'shtam’s life and historical context in greater detail, particularly given the inclusion of the records of Mandel'shtam’s arrest and interrogation, and Lekmanov’s skilled contextualization of the poet amongst his contemporaries and epoch."

— Max Anley, University of Durham, Slavonica