The article by S. Shindin, a scholar of O. Mandelstam, focuses on the lyrical subject of Mandelstam’s poetry inspired by Olga Hildebrandt, better known by her stage name, Arbenina. By citing Hildebrandt-Arbenina’s reminiscences about Mandelstam, notes by their contemporaries, and the poems in question, the author builds a detailed account of their relationship, from the autumn of 1920, when they first met and Mandelstam became infatuated with Olga, who was in a relationship with Gumilyov at the time, until their later encounters, described by N. Mandelstam in her memoirs. In addition to an impressive score of facts about Mandelstam’s poetic development, the author provides numerous insights into the aesthetics of the Silver Age, which engendered, in Akhmatova’s words, the ‘marvellous’ lyrical verse by Mandelstam.