Vladimir Mayakovsky was born on 19th July 1893, (or the 7th July in the Old Style date system) in Baghdati in the Kutais Governorate of the Russian Empire (Modern-day Georgia). He was a poet, playwright, artist, and actor.

Prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917, Mayakovsky became renowned for this work in the Russian Futurist movement (1912-1916). He was one of the initial signatories of the Futurist Manifesto A Slap in the Face of Public Taste (1913).

Following a career of producing poems and plays; editing the LEF/ЛЕФ Journal, and creating propagandist posters for the Communist Party during the Civil War, Mayakovsky committed suicide on the 14th April 1930. Shooting himself in the heart, Mayakovsky left the following note:

To all of you,
I die, but don’t blame anyone for it, and please do not gossip. The deceased dislike that sort of thing terribly. Mother, sisters, comrades, forgive me – this is not a good method (I do not recommend it to others), but there is no other way out for me. Lily – love me. Comrade Government, my family consists of Lily Brik, mama, my sisters, and Veronika Vitoldovna Polonskaya. If you can provide a decent life for them, thank you. Give the poem I started to the Briks. They’ll sort them out.