5 facts about Russia's leading frontline poet, Konstantin Simonov

He was the son of a princess

He was born in 1915 to a major general and Princess Alexandra Obolenskaya. He spent his childhood in various military camps. His father went missing at the front during World War I, while his stepfather, also an officer, a military instructor and a former lieutenant colonel in the Russian Imperial Army, took his place. But, none of these facts prevented the future poet from integrating into the Soviet system and becoming a major literary functionary in it.

His real name is Kirill

His birth name was Kirill Simonov. However, a speech impediment – he had trouble pronouncing the ‘R’ and ‘l’ letters – made it difficult for him to pronounce his name clearly. So, he chose the pseudonym Konstantin. The entire country knew him as the poet Konstantin Simonov, although his mother continued to call her son Kiryusha until her last days.

He took part in military operations as a war correspondent

He began at Khalkhin Gol in 1939 and, during the Great Patriotic War, he served on all the key fronts – he was among the defenders of Mogilev in the tragic July of 1941, was present at the surrender of Field Marshal Paulus at Stalingrad and ended the war in defeated Berlin. His essays and reports, written in the first person, were prized for their authenticity and emotion.

He wrote a poem that became a prayer for all lovers.

In 1941, he wrote one of the most famous poems in 20th-century Russian literature – ‘Wait for Me’. These lines, addressed to his beloved, actress Valentina Serova, became a veritable incantation, a hymn to faith and love, for soldiers at the front and their loved ones in the rear. Simonov and Serova later married and their romance became a legend of the war years.

He participated in the persecution of Akhmatova and Zoshchenko, but produced a publication of ‘The Master and Margarita’.

After the war, Simonov occupied high positions in the literary hierarchy. In this capacity, he manifested ambivalence. On the one hand, in 1946, he actively supported the official persecution of Anna Akhmatova and Mikhail Zoshchenko, fulfilling the ideological mandate of the Party. On the other hand, it was he in the 1960s, who contributed significantly to the initial publication of Mikhail Bulgakov's banned novel, ‘The Master and Margarita’.

You can learn more about Konstantin Simonov's life and work at the‘…And I Will Return’ exhibition, dedicated to the poet's 110th birthday, which is on display at the V. I. Dahl State Museum of the History of Russian Literature until April 26, 2026.