Nikolai Gumilev during his senior years in gymnasium

Nikolay Stepanovich Gumilyov (Russian: Николай Степанович Гумилев, April 15 NS 1886 - August 1921) was an influential Russian poet who founded the acmeism movement. Among the English-language poets, he should be best compared with Rupert Brooke. Image File history File links Ngumil. ... Image File history File links Ngumil. ... A gymnasium is a type of school of secondary education in parts of Europe. ... April 15 is the 105th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (106th in leap years). ... The abbreviation or initials NS may stand for: ns: nanosecond - a measurement of time Nasjonal Samling - a 1930s national socialist political party in Norway National Semiconductor aka Natsemi - an American integrated circuit design and manufacturing company NS can stand for NationStates. ... 1886 is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... Note: as an adjective (stressed on the second syllable instead of the first), august means honorable. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Poets are authors of poems, or of other forms of poetry such as dramatic verse. ... Acmeism, in terms of poetry, was a school which emerged in the early 1900s in Russia. ... A statue of Rupert Brooke in Rugby Rupert Brooke (August 3, 1887 – April 23, 1915) was a British poet best known for his idealistic War Sonnets written during the First World War. ...

Variants of spelling include: Goumilev, Gumilev, Goumilov, Goemilov, Goemiljow, Goumileff, Gumileff, Gumiliovas.

Early life and poems

Nikolai was born in Kronstadt, into a family of a naval physician Stepan Yakovlevich Gumilev (1836—1920) and Anna Ivanovna L'vova (1854—1942). He studied at the gymnasium of Tsarskoe Selo, where the Symbolist poet Innokenty Annensky was his teacher. Later, Gumilev admitted that it was Annensky's influence that turned his mind to writing poetry. 1888 map of Kronstadt bay Kronstadt (Russian: Кронштадт; also Kronshtadt, Cronstadt) is a strongly fortified Russian seaport town, located on Kotlin Island, near the head of the Gulf of Finland, at 59° 59′ 30″ N, 29° 46′ 30″ E. It lies 20 miles west of Saint Petersburg, of which it is... 1836 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1920 (MCMXX) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... 1854 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about the year. ... Tsarskoye Selo (Царское Село in Russian, may be translated as “Tsar’s Village”), a former residence of the royal families and visiting nobility 24 km south of St. ... Mikhail Nesterovs painting Vision to Youth Bartholomew (1890) is often taken as a starting point of Russian Symbolism. ... Alexandre Benois Portrait of Innokenty Annensky Innokentiy Fyodorovich Annensky (Russian: , 1855-1909) was a poet, critic and translator, representative of the first wave of the Russian Symbolism. ...

His first publication were verses I run from cities into forest (Russian: Я в лес бежал из городов) on September 8, 1902. In 1905 he published his first book of lyrics entitled The Way of Conquistadors. It comprised poems on most exotic subjects imaginable, from Lake Chad giraffes to Caracalla's crocodiles. Although Gumilev was proud of the book, most critics found his technique sloppy; later he would refer to that collection as apprentice's work. September 8 is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years). ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Lake Chad (in French: Lac Tchad) is a large, shallow lake in Africa. ... Binomial name Giraffa camelopardalis Linnaeus, 1758 The Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is an even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land living animal species. ... Caracalla Caracalla (April 4, 186–April 8, 217) was emperor of the Roman Empire from AD 211–217. ...

Since 1907 Nikolai Gumilyov much traveled in Europe, notably in Italy and France. In 1908 his new collection Romantic Flowers appeared. While in Paris, he published literary magazine Sirius, but only three issues were produced. On returning to Russia, he edited and contributed to the artistic periodical Apollon. At that period, he became a victim to mystification and fell in love to a non-existent woman Cherubina de Gabriak. On November 22, 1909 he had a duel with Maximilian Voloshin over this affair. 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1908 (MCMVIII) is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Elisaveta Dmitrieva Cherubina de Gabriak (Russian: ) was a literary pseudonym of Elisaveta Ivanovna Dmitrieva (Russian: ; 1887–1928) most probably together with Maximilian Voloshin. ... November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Elisaveta Dmitrieva Cherubina de Gabriak (Russian: ) was a literary pseudonym of Elisaveta Ivanovna Dmitrieva (Russian: ; 1887–1928) most probably together with Maximilian Voloshin. ... Maximilian Alexandrovich Kirienko-Voloshin (1877 - 1932) was one of the significant representatives of the epoch of symbolism in Russian culture and literature. ...

Like Flaubert and Rimbaud before him, Gumilyov was fascinated with Africa and travelled there almost each year. He hunted lions in Ethiopia and brought to Saint Petersburg museum of anthropology and ethnography a large collection of African artifacts. His landmark collection The Tent (1921) collected the best of his poems on African themes. Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821 – Croisset, May 8, 1880) is counted among the greatest Western novelists. ... Rimbaud can refer to: Arthur Rimbaud, 19th century poet and literary figure Penny Rimbaud, founder and drummer of the anarchist punk rock band Crass This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... // Etymology World map showing Africa (geographically) The name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who used the name Africa terra — land of the Afri (plural, or Afer singular) — for the northern part of the continent, as the province of Africa with its capital Carthage, corresponding to modern-day... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland...

Guild of Poets

In 1910, Gumilyov fell under the spell of the Symbolist poet and philosopher Vyacheslav Ivanov and absorbed his views on poetry at the evenings held by Ivanov in his celebrated "Turreted House". His wife Anna Akhmatova accompanied him to Ivanov's parties as well. Gumilyov and Akhmatova married on April 25. On September 18, 1912, their child Lev was born. He would become one of the most popular historians in Russia. 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Portrait by Konstantin Somov (1906). ... Akhmatova in the 1920s Anna Akhmatova (Russian: , real name А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко) (June 23, 1889 (June 11, Old Style and also St. ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). ... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Lev Gumilyov and Anna Akhmatova, 1960s Lev Nikolayevich Gumilyov (Russian: ) (October 1, 1912, St. ...

Dissatisfied with the vague mysticism of Russian Symbolism, then prevalent in the Russian poetry, Gumilyov and Sergei Gorodetsky established the so-called Guild of Poets, which was modeled after mediaeval guilds of Western Europe. They advocated a view that poetry needs craftsmanship just like architecture needs it. Writing a good poem they compared to building a cathedral. To illustrate their ideals, Gumilyov published two collections, The Pearls in 1910 and the Alien Sky in 1912. It was Osip Mandelshtam, however, who produced the movement's most distinctive and durable monument, the collection of poems entitled Stone (1912). Mikhail Nesterovs painting Vision to Youth Bartholomew (1890) is often taken as a starting point of Russian Symbolism. ... Sergei Gorodetsky (Russian: January 17 (January 5 (O.S.)), 1884— June 8, 1967) was a Russian poet, one of the founders (together with Nikolay Gumilyov) of Guild of Poets (Цех поэтов). Categories: Russian poets | 1884 births | 1967 deaths | Russian people stubs ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

According to the principles of acmeism (as the movement came to be dubbed by art historians), every person, irrespective of one's talent, may learn the secrets of versification to produce high-quality poems, if only he follows the guild's masters, i.e., Gumilev and Gorodetsky. Their own model was Theophile Gauthier, and they borrowed much of their basic tenets from the French Parnasse. Such a program, combined with colourful and exotic subject matter of Gumilyov's poems, attracted to the Guild a large number of adolescents. Several major poets, notably Georgy Ivanov and Vladimir Nabokov, passed the school of Gumilyov, albeit informally. Acmeism, or the Guild of Poets, was a poetic school which emerged in 1910 in Russia under leadership of Nikolai Gumilyov and Sergei Gorodetsky. ... Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier (August 31, 1811 - October 23, 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist and literary critic. ... The Parnassians were a group of 19th-century French poets, so called from their journal, the Parnasse contemporain, itself named after Mount Parnassus, home of the Muses in Greek mythology. ... Georgii Vladimirovich Ivanov (Russian: Гео́ргий Влади́мирович Ива́нов ) (1894 - 1958) was a leading poet and essayist of the Russian emigration between the 1930s and 1950s. ... Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (Russian: Владимир Владимирович Набоков; pronounced: vlah-DEE-meer nah-BAWK-awf) (April 22 [O.S. April 10] 1899– July 2, 1977) was a Russian-American author. ...

War experience

Nikolay Gumilyov, Anna Akhmatova and their son Lev Gumilev, 1913

When the WWI started, Gumilyov rushed to Russia and enthusiastically joined a corps of elite cavalry. For his bravery he was invested with two St. George crosses (December 24, 1914 and January 5, 1915). His war poems were assembled in the collection The Quiver (1916). Image File history File links NandLGumilevs_andAkhmatova1913. ... Image File history File links NandLGumilevs_andAkhmatova1913. ... Akhmatova in the 1920s Anna Akhmatova (Russian: , real name А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко) (June 23, 1889 (June 11, Old Style and also St. ... Lev Nikolayevich Gumilyov Л.Н. Гумилев (1912–1992), the son of two Russian poets, Nikolay Gumilyov and Anna Akhmatova, was a writer and historian connected with the contemporary movement of Russian Neo-Eurasianism or Pan-Asianism, advancing the view that Russians and Central Asian nomads constitute a super-ethnos, stretching from Poland to... 1913 (MCMXIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... WWI may be an acronym for: World War I World Wrestling Industry This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... see also St Georges Cross The Cross of St. ... December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ... 1914 (MCMXIV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

During the Russian Revolution, Gumilyov served in the Russian expedition corps in Paris. Despite advice to the contrary, he rapidly returned to Petrograd. There he published several new collections, Tabernacle and Bonfire, and finally divorced Akhmatova (August 5, 1918), whom he had left for other woman several years prior to that. Next year he married Anna Nikolaevna Engelhardt, a noblewoman and daughter of a well-known historian. The October Revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was the second phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the first having been instigated by the events around the February Revolution. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Saint Petersburg  listen (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of... August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ...

Later poems and death

In 1920 Gumilyov co-founded the All-Russia Union of Writers. Gumilyov made no secret of his anti-communist views. He also crossed himself in public and didn't care to dissimulate his contempt for half-literate Bolsheviks. 1920 (MCMXX) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Leaders of the Bolshevik Party and the Communist International, a painting by Malcolm McAllister on the Pathfinder Mural in New York City and on the cover of the book Lenin’s Final Fight published by Pathfinder. ...

On August 3, 1921 he was arrested by Cheka on allegation that he was a monarchist. Most historians believe that it was one of the first entirely fabricated cases by Cheka. On August 24 Petrograd Cheka decreed execution of all 61 participants of Tagantsev Conspiracy, including Nikolai Gumilev. The exact dates and locations of execution and burial are still unknown. August 3 is the 215th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (216th in leap years), with 150 days remaining. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Cheka-KGB emblem: sword and shield The Cheka (ЧК - чрезвычайная комиссия) was the first of many Soviet secret police organizations, created on December 20, 1917 by Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky. ... Cheka-KGB emblem: sword and shield The Cheka (ЧК - чрезвычайная комиссия) was the first of many Soviet secret police organizations, created on December 20, 1917 by Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky. ... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ...

Gumilyov's influence on Russian poetry was intense but short lived. The sentiment is best expressed by Nabokov, who once remarked that Gumilyov is the poet for adolescents, just like Korney Chukovsky is the poet for children. His most durable verse, written in mystical strain, appeared in the collection "The Pillar of Fire" (1921). Mayakovskys cartoon of Korney Chukovsky Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky (Russian: , March 31 NS 1882 - October 28, 1968) is probably the most popular poet for children in the Russian language. ...

See also

• List of famous duels

The following is a list of famous duels. ...

External links

• Russian Site on Gumilev
• Nikolay Gumilyov. Poems