The name of the great Russian poet Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov (1873–1924), the leader of symbolism and literary reformer, is known to every educated person, but his biography appears for the first time. The book contains an insightful analysis of life and creative conflicts, fused into a fascinating “life-creative” text. An inspired poet and a demanding master, a wise teacher and an eternal student, a mystic and a rationalist, an imperialist and a Bolshevik, Bryusov the man appears before the reader in all his “stoic essence.” Literary works, memoirs, diaries, letters from Bryusov and his contemporaries, friends and enemies, served the author as material for a critical biography, in which a mosaic of facts creates a reliable portrait of a unique creative personality in the context of an era rich in dramatic events.