Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov

Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov was a Russian poet of the Silver Age, the founder of the Acmeist school, a prose writer, playwright, translator and literary critic, a traveler and Africanist. He was born in Kronstadt. When Gumilyov was one year old, his family moved to Tsarskoye Selo and then to Tiflis. Gumilyov's first poem, "I ran into the forest from the towns...", was published in 1902.

From 1903 to 1906 Gumilyov studied at the Nikolaev Tsarskoye Selo Gymnasium. He then went to Paris and enrolled at the Sorbonne, where he began publishing the literary magazine "Sirius." His first collection of poems, "The Path of the Conquistadors," was published in 1905. In the following years he published several more collections of poems, married Anna Gorenko and founded the "Poets' Guild," where the Acmeist movement in poetry took shape. He also wrote the play "Don Juan in Egypt" (1913) and undertook an expedition to Africa.

Between 1916 and 1921 Gumilyov's collections "Quiver," "The Tent," and "The Fiery Pillar" were published. In 1921 Gumilyov became chairman of the Petrograd Union of Poets, but was soon accused of conspiracy and executed by firing squad at the age of 35.