Sergei Yesenin

Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin was born on 3 October 1895 in rural Russia. His poetry became defined by lyrical evocations of the childhood countryside he knew, presented without romantic gloss: all its harshness intact, all its textures remembered. The work carried an implied curse on the forces — urbanisation, industrialisation — erasing that world. He became one of the most popular Russian poets of the 20th century. He died on 28 December 1925, at thirty.