Svetlana Kovalenko, a famous researcher of the fate and work of Anna Akhmatova, Doctor of Philology, made the first attempt to write a biography of the poet for the series “ZhZL”. The most important topics for understanding the poet are brought to the fore: Akhmatova’s genealogy and her poetic mythology; Akhmatova and her lyrical addressees: N. Gumilyov, A. Modigliani, N. Nedobrovo, B. Anrep, I. Berlin (real stories and their refraction in poetry); the culture of love in Akhmatova’s interpretation; the causes and consequences of the notorious resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks; the fate of Akhmatova’s legacy, etc. The book, which contains materials that were previously inaccessible or scattered in separate and special editions, will be of undoubted interest to the reader.