ANNENSKII, INNOKENTII FEDOROVICH. 1856-1909.

Photograph Signed, albumen print cabinet card, 6 1/2 by 4 3/8 inches, c.1891, by Wladimir Wysocki, Kiev, minor surface scuffs. INSCRIBED AND SIGNED FOR THE POET ALEKSANDR ALEKSEEVICH KONDRATEV on the verso: "To my dear Alek, from your beloved old teacher. I. Annenskii." Kondratev has added at the top: "I. Annenskii. Kiev, 9 April 1891." Before he emerged as a major Russian Symbolist poet, I.F. Annenskii taught classical languages and ancient literature in a gymnasium in Tsarskoe Selo. He served as its director from 1886 until he died suddenly in 1909. Among those who attended the school were the poet Anna Akhmatova and her future husband, the poet Nikolai Gumilev.