Innokenty Annensky
Russian poet, critic and translator
- Lived
- 1855–1909
- Country
- Russia
- Also writes as
- Никто, А-ий, А-ский, Ан-ий
Updated September 2026
About Innokenty Annensky
Innokenty Fyodorovich Annensky (Russian: Инноке́нтий Фёдорович А́нненский, IPA: [ɪnɐˈkʲenʲtʲɪj ˈfʲɵdərəvʲɪtɕ ˈanʲɪnskʲɪj] ; was a poet, critic, scholar, and translator, representative of the first wave of Russian Symbolism, although he was not well known for his poetry until after his death. In fact, Annensky never wrote professionally; he made little to no income from writing. Instead, he spent his career in academia as a full-time professor and administrator, translator of classic Greek works, and writer of essays and reviews. Despite this, Annensky is considered to be one of the most significant Russian poets from the early 20th century. Critics have cited Annensky's connection to French Symbolism and to the French poet Stéphane Mallarmé for their shared use of "associative symbolism." Annensky was considered to be an under-recognized or neglected poet, but he later gained recognition, particularly in the West, because a number of later Russian poets, such as Mandelstam, Akhmatova, Pasternak, and Mayakovsky, were inspired and influenced by his work.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
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Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.