Anna Akhmatova - Voice of Russia

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The great Russian poet Anna Akhmatova lived through some of the darkest chapters of Soviet history, but never stopped writing even though the communist regime repeatedly tried to silence her. One of Akhmatova's most famous poems, Requiem, is about the arrest of her son, Lev, and the Stalinist terror. The BBC's Tatyana Movshevich finds out more about the poem, and about Anna Akhmatova's life, from Era Korobova, an art historian who knew Akhmatova well. With thanks to Jasmine Hyde and Rebecca Crankshaw for their readings, and to Anna Akhmatova Museum at the Fountain House for the archive recording of Anna Akhmatova. PHOTO: Anna Akhmatova, centre right, at a Soviet writers conference in 1965 (Getty Images)