Nikolai Zabolotsky, poet, dreamer, and political prisoner.

On May 7, 1903, Nikolai Alekseevich Zabolotsky was born in the Kazan district, a well-known poet and dreamer who also became a political prisoner. In his youth, he focused on education and military service, turning to poetry seriously only in the late 1920s.

Zabolotsky experienced a period of relative freedom during the NEP and published his first collection of poems in 1929, boldly speaking out against Stalin's collectivization. At that time, he faced only criticism, but he had already caught the attention of the authorities.

In 1931, the poet became acquainted with the works of Tsiolkovsky and began a correspondence with him, expressing his admiration for his work and dreaming of space. Zabolotsky's romantic nature resonated even with geniuses like Pasternak.

In the following years, he actively wrote, collaborated with newspapers and magazines, and published his second book in 1937. However, in 1938, he was arrested, endured torture, and spent several years in imprisonment and exile in Kazakhstan. There, he worked extensively and completed a rendition of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign," which allowed him to return to Moscow in 1946, be reinstated in the writers' union, and publish his third collection in 1948.

The tightening of censorship was difficult for the poet to endure. From 1949 until Stalin's death, he wrote little, but during the thaw years, he became actively engaged in creativity again. His health was undermined by imprisonment, and he realized that time was running out. In 1955, he suffered his first heart attack, a second in 1958, and he passed away on October 14 of the same year.

Nikolai Zabolotsky was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery. He left a significant poetic legacy, much of which became known to the public only after his death when his name was rehabilitated.