Synopsis
Elisabeth Mnatsakanjan was born in Baku in 1922 and studied piano and music theory at the Moscow conservatory. Being friends with composers like Prokofiev and Shostakovich, she wrote poetry, which she also illustrated but was not able to publish in the USSSR. In 1975 she emigrated to Vienna, where she started to teach Russian literature at the University of Vienna. Since the 1990s her works have gained more widespread recognition also in Russia, and her books of poetry started to be published. She was invited for readings, exhibitions and conferences and was awarded the Andrei Bely-literature prize in 2004. Her paintings and drawings have been shown in multiple galleries around the world, including the Albertina in Vienna.
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