Mandelshtam, Osip, also spelled Mandelstam (1891-1938), was one of the most important Russian poets of the 1900’s. Because of conflicts with the repressive Soviet government of his day, most of Mandelshtam’s poetry was not published during his lifetime. Russia became a member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also called the Soviet Union, in 1922. Mandelshtam was little known outside Russia until interest in his work was revived through the efforts of his widow, Nadezhda. By the mid-1900’s, Mandelshtam had become a symbol of the modern artist persecuted by authority.
Osip Emilyevich Mandelshtam was born on Jan. 15, 1891, in Warsaw, Poland, then part of the Russian Empire. His first poems were published in 1910 in the avant-garde journal Apollo. Avant-garde publications are those that present new and experimental works. Mandelshtam became a leading member of the Acmeist school of poetry, which flourished from about 1910 to 1917 and emphasized clear, concrete language and images. Mandelshtam’s first book of poetry was Stone (1913), in which his Acmeism mixed fantasy with everyday life to explore such themes as human emotions and ancient and modern world culture. His next volume of poems was Tristia (1922). The verses reflect the sad, rootless feelings of the poet in the early years of Communist rule.
Mandelshtam turned more to prose during the 1920’s. One of his major prose works was a series of autobiographical sketches called The Noise of Time, written in 1925 and published in the prose collection The Egyptian Stamp (1928). In 1928, he also published a collection of literary criticism. He also wrote children’s stories and numerous articles on poetry and worked on several translations. Mandelshtam’s non-political views and intellectually demanding style created a gulf between him and the Soviet literary establishment. Gradually, his highly personal writings drew the opposition of government censors. He was sentenced to three years in exile in 1934 for writing an epigram that was considered insulting toward Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. An epigram is a short, pointed saying.
Mandelshtam wrote an important poetry cycle, The Voronezh Notebooks, named for the city where he was forced to live in exile from 1935 to 1937. A year after his release, he was arrested again and sent into the Soviet Gulag (system of labor camps). According to a government death certificate, Mendelstahm died in a labor camp on Dec. 27, 1938. However, rumors circulated that he may have died some time later. In addition to preserving Mandelshtam’s unpublished poetry, Nadezhda Mandelshtam wrote two volumes of memoirs published from 1970 to 1974 about her husband and Soviet tyranny. Her works played an essential role in spreading his reputation internationally.
