Anna Andreevna Akhmatova moved to 4 Krasnaya Konnitsa Street, apartment 3, from the Fountain House in 1952. The apartment on Krasnaya Konnitsa Street belonged before the war to Professor of International Law Sergey Borisovich Krylov. In the autumn of 1941, Krylov evacuated with his family to Kuybyshev. The apartment had five rooms in total. Akhmatova moved to Krasnaya Konnitsa Street with the family of Irina Nikolaevna Punina in 1952. The apartment had 5 rooms. Akhmatova occupied a small bright room. From the window, one could see an old building, resembling 19th-century barracks—the Nikolaevsky Hospital, where Mussorgsky died.

Here is how Sylvia Gitovich describes Akhmatova’s house: "She moved to 4 Krasnaya Konnitsa Street, where once, in times long past, according to her, there was an inn, and the entire second floor was occupied by a coachman’s tavern. Now nothing reminded of those times. The apartment was communal, with five rooms. It became somewhat more noticeable that all the furniture in the apartment was shabby. But, as always, icons hung in the corner, and above the headboard—the famous portrait by Modigliani. By the window stood a low carved chest, the ‘Florentine bride’s chest,’ as Anna Andreevna called it, in which folders and manuscripts lay."

From the memoirs of her apartment neighbor Anaksogorova:

I called our apartment the "House of Open Doors." All five rooms opened into the corridor; the doors were never closed. Outwardly, Akhmatova was majestic, but in the dormitory, she was simple. I remember one "morning" (it was the first hour of the day). I was walking from my room at the beginning of the corridor (from the front door) to the kitchen at the end of the corridor. I saw Akhmatova "emerging" from her room, as always, in a lilac Japanese kimono with a silver dragon on the back. She asked: "What time is it?" — "One o’clock." — "Where has everyone gone?" — "Some are working, others studying..."

Akhmatova never had a watch; therefore, she did not know the time. "Anna Andreevna, would you like some coffee?" — "Oh, the height of my dreams!" Anna Andreevna did not know how to light the gas stove; she was afraid of it... I made coffee and whatever I had for breakfast, which Anna Andreevna was pleased with. That morning we were alone together.

Another occasion. I was sitting alone in my room in the evening. Akhmatova came in: "We’re lounging at your feet..." — "What’s the matter?" — "Could you come with me to Moscow? Irina is teaching (at the Mukhina School), Anya is studying..." — "With pleasure!"

"An example of our friendly, simple relations (in a communal apartment!) was the ‘episode’ with millet porridge. Anna Andreevna once told me she loved millet porridge with pumpkin. It was early autumn. Opposite our windows was a vegetable stall. But there was always a queue in front of it. One day Akhmatova shouted: ‘Anna Konstantinovna, run quickly! There’s no queue.’ I ran, bought a pumpkin. I cooked the porridge ‘by all the rules of the art,’ put it in the oven, and said to Anya Kaminskaya: ‘I have to leave, and you check if the porridge is ready. You can try it as payment for your ‘work.’”

I came home in the evening and saw an empty pot. The explanation: "It was so tasty that they forgot to leave any for you..."

One morning I was walking down the corridor past the dining room. I heard Anna Andreevna speaking irritably on the phone: "Send any old woman; let her say whatever she wants on my behalf. Leave me alone..."

I asked Anna Andreevna where they were "dragging" her. "Students from Oxford’s Faculty of Literature have arrived and demand a meeting with me. I can’t receive them in a communal apartment..."

I left for the institute. In the evening I returned home and saw the whole company in the kitchen, drinking tea. I asked: "Anna Andreevna, were you at the Union? Well, how was it?" Anna Andreevna told me that Zoshchenko spoke first and began explaining how he understood humor. Then the students asked Anna Andreevna the question: "How did you react to the party and government decree of August 14, 1946?" I said: I agree. After that, the "clock hand" turned toward Akhmatova."

At that time, I received the newspaper "Izvestia," which everyone interested read. One evening I came home. Again, the whole company was in the kitchen. Hearing my footsteps, Anna Andreevna exclaimed: "Victory! Victory!" waving the newspaper. It turned out that Izvestia had published an article by I. Shklovsky about the installation of an observation device on Venus. The article began with the words: "The famous Russian poet Gumilev wrote, ‘We will fly to Venus. There blue leaves grow...’" Anna Andreevna was delighted that after a long period, Gumilev’s name was mentioned in print for the first time. Anna Andreevna asked me to leave that newspaper for her, to which I gladly agreed.

The district where Akhmatova lived in those years was connected with different periods of her life. Nearby, on Tavricheskaya, was Vyacheslav Ivanov’s "tower," his apartment, where Akhmatova visited in her youth. Not far away, on Shpalernaya, was the Big House, which held her first husband, her son, her last husband...

Many poems were written in this house: "The Last Poem," "The Seventh" from "Northern Elegies," "The End of the Demon," "The Heiress," "That Night We Both Went Mad...", and others. As always, despite poor health, domestic instability, and the echoes of the Big House’s activities, the poet’s voice sounded:

And I speak, probably, for many:

The foolish, sorrowful, mute, and poor,

And they give me their strength,

And expect swift and effective help.

March 30, 1961

Krasnaya Konnitsa

Sources:

Anaksogorova A. K.: In the Apartment on Krasnaya Konnitsa Street

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