Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966) was born to an upper-class family in Odessa.  Her family name was Gorenko but, because her father objected to her writing poetry, she changed her name to Akhmatova (that of a Tartar Princess). Before the Revolution her poetry was known by heart all over Russia.  She was not only one of the greatest Russian poets of her day, she was also known for her bravery. She was renowned for her dignity, composure and courage. Throughout Stalin's terror, she stood by her friends such as Shostakovitch and Pasternak, who were threatened by the regime. She documented the holocaust and other atrocities of World War II.  Some of her poetry was considered anti-revolutionary and in 1949 she was officially banned by Stalin and cast out of the Writers' Union.  She used poetry to give voice to the struggles and deepest yearnings of the Russian people. and at her death she was recognised as the greatest woman poet in Russian literature.

Stalin did not like her poetry and she was not allowed to publish from the 1920s.  She would have had nowhere to live if it hadn't been for a succession of men (she was very attractive).  She had three failed marriages.  Her son was taken into a Gulag three times and held as a hostage.  He blamed his mother for this.  She said that if they ever honoured her in Russia, she wanted a memorial beside the prison where her son was held.

When Peter Kelly visited St Petersburg in 2002, he visited the house where she had lived.