Zinaida Gippius

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Age: 48

Lives in: 83, Sergievskaya st., Petrograd, Russian Empire

Occupation: Poet, literary critic

Non-fiction

Project 1917 is a series of events that took place a hundred years ago as described by those involved. It is composed only of diaries, letters, memoirs, newspapers and other documents

Zinaida Gippius with Dmitry Merezhkovsky

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

18.01.18

A call from the Northern Hotel: there are large demonstrations on Nevsky, but they are not letting anyone on Liteinyi Prospekt. One demonstration on Liteinyi has already been gunned down, by the building number 19. Most of the demonstrators are workers. One member of the Constituent Assembly has been killed, one soldier, some workers, many are wounded. There are machine-guns ambushes—from where they were shooting. Somewhere close to Kirochnaya or Furshtadtskaya a demonstration of 6 Red Army Soldiers was gunned down. While sailors were sitting on rooftops (instead of policemen). One girl was stabbed in the neck by a Red Army soldier, and when she fell he kept stabbing her until she died.

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Zinaida Gippius

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

17.01.18

The situation is really tense. One can feel it behind everyone’s every word. It is in the air. Socialist-revolutionaries are preparing for battle (a losing one, I think). Tomorrow at noon the Constituent Assembly is scheduled to convene. A demonstration is being planned for this, members of the CA are hoping to “flow” into the Tavrichesky Palace with the demonstration, but this is for naught, for the Bolsheviks are preparing their own: from a while ago, their prohibition of the participation of all “faithful ones” in the demonstration and their order to Latvians and specially called sailors (more than a thousand) to cordon off the area around Tavrichesky Palace and to not let anyone close. But members will be allowed to enter—and only they. It is not really clear why a larger number of Socialist Revolutionaries were not re-arrested? Maybe, tonight…

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Zinaida Gippius

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

14.01.18

The Constituent Assembly (in whatever form) and the Bolsheviks CANNOT CO-EXIST EVEN FOR A MINUTE. Either it’s “all power to the Constituent Assembly”, in which case the Bolsheviks fall, or else it’s “all power to the Soviets”, in which case the Constituent Assembly falls. An either-or scenario. The SRs say that they’ve grasped this, and are constructing their plan and considering their tactics accordingly. They’re joining battle. Their “all power to the Constituent Assembly” is the first provision of the first session; if they can put it through and enact it, this will constitute a CHANGE OF POWER. They’re placing their faith in their undisputed majority and in the “idea” of the Constituent Assembly. Making allowances for the current state of the “masses” (to use their expression), who have been seduced by the Bolsheviks’ promises of “peace” and “land”, they are CONSCIOUSLY cloaking this new “power” in sweet demagoguery. (There’s nothing to lose, after all.) They, too, are making immediate promises of “peace” (only a universal one), “land”, and a federative republic (only a unified one).

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Zinaida Gippius with Vladimir Lenin

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

06.01.18

Snow is covering half of our windows now. And yet it isn’t a white Christmas - it’s a black one, a black one. The Constituent Assembly is scheduled for the 18th, but now they are openly stating in their newspapers that it’s “useless”, or should be their “clerk or servant”, or even “broken apart by a revolutionary force.” See more

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Zinaida Gippius

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

05.01.18

I am tired, it’s late. Different people. Was busy with different things. Zenzinov came to visit. In the entryway, I did not fail to show him some clippings from “People Affairs” with its obviously mendacious words about Savinkov. He made excuses that in the report the words were misreported. See more

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Zinaida Gippius

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

04.01.18

There was a big blizzard yesterday. Petrograd is all covered in snow like a village. The snow is not being cleaned, all street cleaners now occupy important positions in the ministries, they are now chiefs, inspectors, etc. See more

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Zinaida Gippius

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

02.01.18

A painful episode in the fortress yesterday: the batman Pavlov (an assistant to the commandant) intercepted a letter from Kartashov to his sister in which he’d written that “Russia has become Germany’s hired hand”. See more

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Zinaida Gippius

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

24.12.17

An astonishingly stupid and sad story happened to Shingarev. It's a tragic anecdote. A girl by the name of Kaufman, from the Constitutional Democrat Central Committee registry, managed to arrange a visit to him and decided to bring him some shortcakes. See more

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Zinaida Gippius

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

21.12.17

I have been working on "The Evening Bell" (this kind of newspaper paper used to be distributed in the printing house of "Rechi" ["Pronouncements"]) and I haven't been calling in here. And well it's the same old same old. Pogroms and the Permanent's firing (yesterday night it was rattling so much that I gave a start and Dima went to the sentry). See more

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Zinaida Gippius

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

18.12.17

Nothing special. Pogroms and shooting in all parts of the city (today is the 8th day). Machine guns are cracking. To these pogrom orgies, which are now taking over houses and stores, people have gotten used. There are not that many wounded and killed a day: about 10 killed and 50 wounded. Yard keepers and butlers are on strike, demanding thousands from house owners, even though Bolsheviks have announced houses to be under their control. Main entrances have been nailed shut everywhere, gates are wide open all night. Thus the yard keepers demand.
Officers are without marks. Only Germans, slowly and surely arriving, have marks.

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Zinaida Gippius

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

16.12.17

Rumors that Petersburg has been “peacefully” seized by the Germans are more and more palpable. They say the city has already been divided into sectors (rumors, even foolish ones, are often revealing). A deep secret shrouds the negotiations between the Bolsheviks and the Germans.

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Zinaida Gippius

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

12.12.17

The systematic arrest of arriving Constitutional Democrats continues. In “Izvestia” (that single daily newspaper), a decree was issued, in which Constitutional Democrats are declared OUTLAWS all over and subject to arrest. See more

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Zinaida Gippius

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

11.12.17

I was awoken by the sounds of music (the window above my head being open). Outside it was minus ten degrees but bright as spring. An endless flag-bearing procession was making its way to the Tauride Palace. See more

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Zinaida Gippius

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

10.12.17

Tomorrow’s Constituent Assembly has been postponed. One issue is that the Bolsheviks still haven’t succeeded with their city council. The other is that they require a minimum of 400 people’s cash, knowing full well that the elections were slowed down because of their actions. They counted the arrivals while systematically arresting them. See more

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Zinaida Gippius

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

09.12.17

The newspaper “Den’” (‘Day’) turned into “Noch’” (‘Night’) after the first closure; into “Dark Night” after the second; “Midnight” emerged after the third. After the fourth it became “Into the deep night”, and then the door was slammed completely shut. See more

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Age: 48

Lives in: 83, Sergievskaya st., Petrograd, Russian Empire

Occupation: Poet, literary critic