On the History of Aleksandr Blok Party in Arzamas Society

Abstract

The paper traces the history of a short-lived Petrograd literary society “Arzamas” and analyses its connections with the Second Workshop of Poets. A special attention is paid to the Party organized by G. Ivanov and G. Adamovich on behalf of Arzamas society in May 1918. At the party L.D. Blok made her first public performance reciting Blok’s poem The Twelve. The scandal that took place during the party, demonstrated the overreaction of Blok’s contemporaries to the poem. Anna Akhmatova and Vladimir Piast refused to participate in the party – for different reasons, as it is proved in paper. The paper also considers F. Sologub’s opinion of Blok’s works written on January 1918. An attempt is made to recreate Nikolay Gumilev’s attitude to the poem The Twelve.

Keywords

• а. blok
• poem the twelve
• literary societies
• arzamas society
• memoirs
• g. adamovich
• g. ivanov