"The Legend of Novgorode" was the first poem of

Blaise Cendrars Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1 September 1887 – 21 January 1961), better known as Blaise Cendrars (), was a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European ...

. It was published in 1907.

History

Background

In 1904, Sauser went to Russia as an apprentice to a Swiss watchmaker. He would have written this poem in French in 1908, just after the death of a girl he loved since he began living in St. Petersburg in 1905. A librarian he knew, R. R., was supposed to have translated it into Russian, and the author claimed that fourteen copies were subsequently made. No copies could be found, not even in the author's possession.

"Rediscovery"

This text was considered for a long time as lost, or as a product of the author's imagination, until in 1995, Bulgarian writer Kiril Kadiiski claimed to have discovered a Russian copy in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

. After a raging controversy, this copy is now mostly considered as a fraud, with a very good impersonation of Cendrars' (writing at that time Frédéric Sauser) style. This first poem would have revealed the origins of the nickname that was chosen by Fréderic Sauser. The authenticity of the document is still questionable today.

History

Background

"Rediscovery"

See also