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Olga Berggolts, who is still called the "Leningrad Madonna", was the soul and voice of the dying city during the war and the siege of Leningrad. But few people know that her life was like a plot from an ancient tragedy. An early marriage to the poet Boris Kornilov (later shot in the dungeons of Stalin's prisons), the death of two little daughters. Arrest, terrible interrogations in prison and a child beaten out of her body by a sadistic investigator. The siege. The death of her beloved husband, Nikolai Molchanov, from starvation... Her attempt to write the truth... With all her might, Olga Berggolts tried to overcome the ideology that was breaking her: from a Soviet person to become simply a Man, and from a Soviet poet to become simply a Poet. But the Soviet system did not let her out of its hands not only during her life, but also after her death. Her secret diaries, which she kept her entire life, were classified for a long time, and have only now seen the light of day. The lecture will take place at the Turgenev Library, 11 Rue de Valence, 75005 Paris. Support the Turgenev Library: https://www.helloasso.com/association... *Photo: Anna Artemyeva / Novaya Gazeta