The Acmeist movement was a movement in early 20th-century Russian poetry reacting against Symbolism. Acmeists developed a neo-classical emphasis on clear words about demystified realities. Major figures include Osip Mandelshtam, Anna Akhmatova, and Nikolay Gumilyov, founder of the Acmeist organ Apollon. Research Acmeist Movement
Alexius Comnenus was a Byzantine Emperor. He was born in 1048 and died in 1118. He was a nephew of Isaac the first emperor of the Comneni, and attained the throne in 1081, at a time when the empire was menaced from various sides, especially by the
Turks and the Normans. From these dangers, as well as from later - caused by the first Crusade, the Normans, and the Turks- he managed to extricate himself by policy or warlike measures, and maintained his position until the age of seventy, during a reign of thirty-seven years. His daughter Anna wrote a life of him known as the Alexiad, which is one continuous eulogy. Research Alexius Comnenus
Anna Letitia Barbauld was an English poet and general writer. Shewas born in 1743 at Leicestershire and died in 1825. She was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister named Aikin. She published a small volume of miscellaneous poems in 1772, and in 1773, in conjunction with her brother, Dr. John Aikin, a collection of pieces in prose. In 1774 she married the Reverend Rochemont Barbauld. Her Early Lessons and Hymns for Children, and various essays and poems, won considerable popularity. She edited a collection of English novels, with critical and biographical notices; a selection from the British essayists of the reign of Anne, and another from Richardson's correspondence. Her last long poem, Eighteen Hundred and Eleven, appeared in 1812. Research Anna Barbauld
Anna Comnena was the daughter of Alexius Comnenus I, Byzantine emperor. She was born in 1083 and died in 1148. After her father's death she endeavoured to secure the succession to her husband, Nicephorus Briennius, but was baffled by his want of energy and ambition. She wrote (in Greek) a life of her father Alexius, which, in the midst of much fulsome panegyric, contains some valuable and interesting information. She forms a character in Sir Walter Scott's Count Robert of Paris. Research Anna Comnena
Anna Ivanovna was Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. She was born in 1693 and died in 1740. She was the daughter of Ivan, the elder half-brother of Peter the Great. She was married in 1710 to the Duke of Courland, in the following year was left a widow, and on the death of Peter II in 1730 she succeeded to the throne on the condition proposed by the senate, that she would limit the absolute power of the czars, and do nothing without the advice of the council composed of the leading members of the Russian aristocracy. However she declared herself autocratic, and gave supreme power to her favourite, Biron, who ruled her empire with intolerable tyranny and oppression. Several of the leading nobles were executed, and many thousand men exiled to Siberia. On her death, Anna Ivanovna left the throne to Ivan, son of her niece, Anna Carlovna. Research Anna Ivanovna
Anna Pavlova was a Russian ballerina. She was born in 1881 and died in 1931 of pneumonia. After training at the Ballet School in St Petersburg she became prima ballerina with the Russian Imperial Ballet in 1906, danced with Diaghilev's company in 1909 and afterwards performed and toured independently with her own company. Research Anna Pavlova
Antonio Lopez Santa-Anna was a Mexican general and politician. He was born in 1795 at Jalapa and died in 1876. He fought in the Spanish army against Mexico from 1810 to 1821 before seizing power in 1822 and defeating the Spanish at Zampico. He was then elected President, but preferred to rule by deputy. The policy of centralization which he adopted caused Texas to revolt and Join the USA. Research Antonio Santa-Anna
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Abbreviations
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