Polyxena Solovyova

Polyxena Sergeyevna Solovyova (; – 16 August 1924) was a Russian poet and illustrator. A Symbolist poet from the Silver Age of Russian Poetry, she won the Medal of Pushkin in 1908. She was the first person to translate Alice in Wonderland into the Russian language and was known for founding and illustrating the magazine and publishing house Тропинка ("Path") with her partner, Natalia Manaseina. Early life Polyxena Sergeyevna Solovyova was born on 20 March 1867 O.S. in Moscow to Polyxena Vladimirovna (née Romanova) and Sergey Solovyov. Her father was a noted historian and the rector of the University of Moscow. Her mother was from a Polish-Ukrainian family, who were related to the philosopher Gregory Skovoroda. Her paternal grandfather was Mikhail Vasilievich Solovyov, who had been a priest and law instructor. She was the youngest of 12 children, which included her brothers Vsevolod Solovyov and Vladimir. Her education began at home and she was able to read and write by age 5. After reading a poetry collection by Afanasy Fet, she began writing poetry. Later, she attended the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, studying under Vasily Polenov and Illarion Pryanishnikov. Career Solovyova began publishing poetry at the age of 16 with her first publication in the journal Нива (The Field). She moved to Saint Petersburg in 1895, becoming involved with the literary circle which included Konstantin Balmont, Alexander Blok, Zinaida Gippius, Vyacheslav Ivanov, and Konstantin Sluchevsky, among other Symbolist poets. In 1898, at a gathering of Symbolist poets in the home of Mikhail Petrovich Manasein, a professor at the Imperial Military Medical Academy, Solovyova met him and his wife, Natalia. In 1899, when she published her first volume of poetry, which she also illustrated, called Стихотворения (Poems), she began using the pseudonym Allegro. She also published poetry in magazines like Вестник Европы (European Herald), Мир Божий (God's World), and Русское богатство (Russian Wealth). By around 1901, Solovyova met the sisters, Adelaida and Eugenia Gertsyk and also around 1903 became acquainted with the poet Maximilian Voloshin. From around 1906, she began summering in Koktebel, in the Crimea with the Gertsyk sisters, who headed a literary salon which included Voloshin and the Manaseins.