Konstantin Balmont

Konstantin Dmitriyevich Balmont (Russian: Константин Дмитриевич Бальмонт; 15 June [O.S. 3 June] 1867 – 23 December 1942) was a Russian symbolist poet and translator who became one of the major figures of the Silver Age of Russian Poetry.

Balmont's early education came from his mother, who knew several foreign languages, valued literature and theater, and exerted a strong influence on her son. He then attended two gymnasiums, being expelled from the first for political activities and graduating from the second. He started studying law at the Imperial Moscow University in 1886 but was quickly expelled for taking part in student unrest. He tried again at the Demidov Law College from 1889 but dropped out in 1890.

In February 1889, Balmont married Larisa Mikhailovna Garelina. Unhappy in marriage, on 13 March 1890 he attempted suicide by jumping from a third-storey window, resulting in a limp and an injured writing hand for the rest of his life. He became involved in two other common-law marriages and attempted suicide a second time in 1909.

Balmont wrote poetry and prose prolifically and published his works to wide audiences in Imperial Russia. After the Bolshevik revolution he emigrated in 1920 and had a smaller following in exile. He translated the works of other writers, including Edgar Allan Poe. He was thought of among the pre-revolutionary Russian intellectual milieu as an innovative poet and enjoyed friendships with many of his fellow Russian emigrant poets. He died of pneumonia in France in 1942.