Balmont Konstantin Dmitrievich (1867-1942)

Russian poet-symbolist, translator, essayist, one of the most prominent representatives of the poetry of the Silver Age. He was born in the Shuya district of the Vladimir province (now – the Ivanovo region). He studied at the Shuya grammar school, but at the age of 17 was forced to leave it because of his membership in the illegal circle of the "Narodnaya Volya" ("The People's Will"). Balmont was transferred to the gymnasium of Vladimir, which he graduated in 1886. It was during his years in Vladimir that his literary debut took place – the first publication of several poems in the St. Petersburg magazine "Picturesque Review". The Vladimir period also includes an acquaintance by correspondence of the novice poet with the well-known writer V.G. Korolenko, whom Balmont later called his "godfather."