Events on the Road to Immortality: An Evening of Mandelstam at Moscow State University, 1965

Abstract

For Osip Mandelstam, as for many Soviet-era artists, literary survival encompassed more than appreciation by critics; the physical survival of his texts has traced a tenuous path. This article explores the Russian fascination with the biography, and particularly the death, of the poet, and a pivotal moment that reveals the forces that shaped Mandelstam's literary survival: the critical recognition that took place during a symbolically charged commemorative event in 1965.

Keywords:

• biography
• commemorative event
• death
• Osip Mandelstam
• Russian poet