Joseph Brodsky is a Soviet poet, playwright, essayist and translator. Born and lived in the Soviet Union, but his work was not accepted by the authorities at home, he was accused of parasitism, and Brodsky had to emigrate from the country.
Poet Brodsky
In his work he reached great heights, his name is known all over the world. Already in exile he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature.
Only during perestroika did his poems begin to be published at home. Up to this point, Brodsky’s work was known to a limited circle of people in the USSR. He was invited to return, but he kept putting off his arrival.
After his voluntary exile, he never visited Russia and died in exile. His memory created the Brodsky Museum in St. Petersburg.
Brodsky's American office at the Anna Akhmatova Museum in the Fountain House
Brodsky never lived in the Fountain House; moreover, he never visited him. But he was very close to Anna Akhmatova.
In 2003, the poet’s widow gave the museum items from his house in South Headley, where he lived. These are pieces of furniture, posters, a library, a collection of postcards and many other little things. There was even a place for the suitcase with which Brodsky was leaving the country.
Akhmatova Museum presented some of them in the exposition. In the office there is a desk, sofa, chair, lamp, typewriter. You can also see the installation of media artist Bystrov, which tells about Leningrad and the house where Brodsky lived.
The museum tried to arrange all the items exactly as it was in the poet’s office. In the newsstand are precisely those newspapers that Brodsky read. There is also a heap of bills and receipts, and the pillows on the couch are laid out like the poet’s.
The background is a record of the trial, after which he was sent to the link. In the office you can watch movies about Brodsky.
Different people come to the poet’s office: schoolchildren and people of the older generation, those who are familiar with his work, and those who do not know about him at all.
Poet's apartment
Despite the fact that Brodsky is an honorary citizen of the city of St. Petersburg and a great poet, until recently he was mentioned only in the exhibition at the Anna Akhmatova Museum.
Brodsky’s apartment in St. Petersburg, where he lived with his father and mother, decided to turn into a museum in memory of the poet.
The room is located on Liteiny Prospect, 24, in the Muruzi apartment building. Many famous writers lived and visited this building: Merezhkovsky, Gippius. Here Gumilev opened the Union of Poets.
The Brodsky family moved into the apartment in 1955. Joseph Brodsky lived there until 1964, after which he was sent into exile for parasitism. Then he returns and lives in it until emigration.
Work on the museum
The Brodsky Museum in St. Petersburg was planned to be organized in the nineties. Many prominent cultural figures, both domestic and foreign, have asked the governor to create a museum in the poet’s former apartment. He gave the go-ahead, but did not participate in the process.
The museum foundation managed to redeem five of the six rooms in the communal apartment at the expense of sponsors. This took almost fifteen years.
The first repair work was completed on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the poet, and Brodsky’s museum-apartment was opened for free visits for one day. And after it was closed for further repairs, the completion date of which is unknown.
Museum exposition
The exposition of Joseph Brodsky's house-museum shows the main events in the poet's life from the beginning of his literary path.
In the museum you can see one and a half rooms where Brodsky lived with his father and mother, communal kitchen and rooms of neighbors.
The exposition also includes prints of photographs taken by friends and the poet’s father, preserved interior elements and sculptural portraits.
The creators of the museum tried to maintain the atmosphere of the Soviet communal apartment where the poet lived. In the rooms you can hear the verses that Brodsky himself reads.
The museum opened for one day, there were practically no real exhibits, because construction and repair work was not completed. But in the future it is supposed to place things that the poet’s widow handed over to the museum.
