Vera Inber was a prominent Soviet poet, prose writer, playwright, and translator. 

Early LifeShe was born on 10 July 1890 in Odesa. Her father, Moisei Shpentser, owned a printing house and was one of the directors of the scientific publishing house “Matezis”; he was also a cousin of Leon Trotsky. Her mother, Fanni Solomonovna, taught Russian language and headed a Jewish girls’ school.
Education and Early CareerVera studied at the Shol’p and Pashkovskaya Gymnasiums and later at the History and Philology Department of the Higher Women’s Courses in Odesa. Her first publication appeared in 1910 — an article titled “The Ladies of Seville.” In 1912, her debut poetry collection “The Sad Wine” was released, receiving praise from Alexander Blok and R. Ivanov-Razumnik.
In Odesa, Inber gave public lectures, including her 19 April 1913 presentation “Flowers on Asphalt. Women’s Fashions in Their Past and Present” at the Union Theatre. She also published fashion articles in Odesskiye Novosti under the pseudonyms Vera Inbert and Vera Litti.
Life in Odesa and Literary WorkDuring the Civil War (1914–1922), Inber lived in Odesa on Sturdzovsky and Kanatny lanes. Her home became a gathering place for writers from Odesa and Moscow. She lectured on European poets and wrote plays for the amateur theatre “KROT,” where she also performed roles and sang songs to her own lyrics.
In 1922, her third poetry collection, “Mortal Words,” was published in Odesa, after which Inber moved to Moscow. There she continued to write poems, articles, and essays. She became widely known in Odesa for her poem “Five Nights and Days,” dedicated to Vladimir Lenin.
Later Life and Creative WorkBetween 1924 and 1926, Inber worked as a correspondent in Paris, Brussels, and Berlin. In 1926, her short story collection “The Freckled Boy” was published. Her collection “The Lane Bearing My Name” followed in 1933, and in 1939 she was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honour.
During the Second World War, Inber and her husband, Professor I. D. Strashun, spent nearly three years in besieged Leningrad. There she wrote the poem “The Pulkovo Meridian” and the collection “The Soul of Leningrad.” In 1946, she received the Stalin Prize, 2nd degree.
In 1954, she wrote an autobiographical children’s story “When I Was Little,” and in 1971 her final lifetime poetry collection “The Questionnaire of Time” was published. Inber also translated the works of Taras Shevchenko, Maksym Rylsky, Paul Éluard, Sándor Petőfi, and Jānis Rainis.
LegacyVera Inber died on 11 November 1972 and was buried at the Vvedenskoye Cemetery in Moscow. In Odesa, her name was commemorated by renaming the former Sturdzovsky Lane in her honour. In 2000, the World Club of Odesans and the Odesa Literary Museum published “Flowers on Asphalt,” a volume containing her finest works written in Odesa along with materials about her life and creative legacy.