. Solovyova began publishing poetry at the age of 16 with her first publication in the journal
Нива (The Field). She moved to
Saint Petersburg in 1895, becoming involved with the literary circle which included
Konstantin Balmont,
Alexander Blok,
Zinaida Gippius,
Vyacheslav Ivanov, and
Konstantin Sluchevsky, among other
Symbolist poets. In 1898, at a gathering of Symbolist poets in the home of Mikhail Petrovich Manasein, a professor at the
Imperial Military Medical Academy, Solovyova met him and his wife, Natalia. In 1899, when she published her first volume of poetry, which she also illustrated, called
Стихотворения (Poems), she began using the pseudonym
Allegro. She also published poetry in magazines like
Вестник Европы (European Herald),
Мир Божий (God's World), and
Русское богатство (Russian Wealth). By around 1901, Solovyova met the sisters,
Adelaida and
Eugenia Gertsyk and also around 1903 became acquainted with the poet
Maximilian Voloshin. From around 1906, she began summering in
Koktebel, in the
Crimea with the Gertsyk sisters, who headed a literary salon which included Voloshin and the Manaseins. In 1906, Solovyova founded the publishing house and children's magazine
Тропинка (Path), where she worked as an editor, illustrator, and writer along with Manaseina. Both she and the publishing house were awarded the
Pushkin Gold Medal in 1908. She personally published over twenty books while running
Тропинка, including many translations of noted literary works for children. She was the first to translate
Alice in Wonderland into Russian, which she published as
Приключения Алисы в Стране чудес in 1909. The publication also became widely used by other Symbolist poets as an outlet for their creative works. It was a significant publishing house in the period, publishing around 100 books by 1918, for which more than half were for the Ministry of Education. In addition to writing and translating, Solovyova published many drawings for the magazine. Her works represent a wide range of styles, from imitations of children's sketches to
Art Nouveau graphics. She also solicited drawings from other artists to enhance the layout of the magazine. Though she often followed in the Symbolist tradition, Solovyova also wrote in other genres, writing
lullabies, religious legends, riddles and poems about nature and animals. One of these was a stage drama,
Svadba solntsa i vesny (The Wedding of the Sun and the Spring) written in 1907 in celebration of spring. Music for the piece was written by
Mikhail Kuzmin. Solovyova and Manaseina began an affair, and beginning 1909, they lived with Natalia's husband in the same house at #16 Voznesensky in
Saint Petersburg. In 1917, the three lived in voluntary exile in Crimea to avoid the violence of the
Russian Revolution in the capital. While living in the Crimea, she continued to write, but her works only occasionally managed to make it into the newspapers and journals in
Simferopol or
Feodosia. She taught for the Feodosia Department of Education and gave lectures in
Koktebel at the People's University. To earn a living, she and Manaseina created and sold hats. At the end of 1923, with the help of friends
Korney Chukovsky and Voloshin, Solovyova and Manaseina were able to return to Moscow. Solovyova was ill and almost immediately underwent an operation, but her health continued to decline. ==Death and legacy==