Poet,  Playwright.  Considered by many the greatest figure of Russia’s Symbolist Movement.  His experiments in rhythm and prosody broke new ground in his country’s literature. Blok’s masterpiece, the long poem “The Twelve” (1918), reflected his initial enthusiasm for the Russian Revolution. It depicts twelve Bolshevik soldiers on a winter night, raping, looting, and killing their way through St. Petersburg; at the end Jesus Christ appears as their leader. The poem caused a firestorm of controversy. Blok was attacked by Russian emigres and White Guard supporters who felt he had betrayed his own class, and he was condemned by the Communists, who resented the work’s religious implications. He quickly grew disillusioned with the new regime and fell into a depression, completing no new works before his death from cancer.  His output also includes the poetry collection “Songs of the Beautiful Lady” (1904),  the plays “The Puppet Show” (1905) and “The Stranger” (1906),  and the long poem “The Scythians” (1918).  Blok was born in St. Petersburg. (bio by: Bobb Edwards)