Лу Саломе

Among them there are famous Russian compatriots – count Pyotr Sheremetyev, Prince Nikita Lobanov-Rostovsky, a well-known researcher of the Arctic and Antarctic, an outstanding Russian scientist-oceanographer Artur Chilingarov, one of the top-rank chess-players in the world Levon Aronian, distinguished cultural figures – Zurab Tsereteli, Arkady Inin and Leonid and Alexander Kanevsky, Nadezhda Babkina, Veronica Borovik-Khilchevsky, Roxana Babayan. Since Institute times Leonid has been friends with Yuri Luzhkov.

Life gave him the happiness of being acquainted and keeping company with now deceased outstanding representatives of national culture – a great poet and translator Samuil Marshak, the king of tango Oscar Strok, a famous film Director Grigory Chukhrai, wonderful actors Vladimir Zeldin and Semyon Farada, the legendary journalist Artyom Borovik, the master of the Russian art of singing Josiph Kobzon, the popular singers Eduard Khil and Valentina Tolkunova and also Alexander Glezer -a writer, poet, translator, journalist, publisher, collector of unofficial Russian art, one of the organizers of the «Bulldozer exhibition» in Moscow (1974).

In 2009, his book «My Friends Are My Wealth» came out. Later he wrote and published several more of his books.

In 2018 Leonid Niessmann's book «Russian Language. Difficulties, Secrets, Subtleties and Not Only…» was published. Written in vibrant, colorful language, it is cheerful, easy and at the same time informative and educational. The keynote of the whole book is the thought that «great, powerful, truthful and free» language for the Russian people is not only «support and comfort in the days of doubt and painful thoughts», but also an ever-living source of enjoyment in everyday life.

In 2019 his book «Famous Bastards in Russian Culture» was published.

Why did the idea to write a book about Lou Salome cross his mind? Only the author himself can give a perfect answer, although some thoughts on this matter do arise.

Strange as it may seem, the fates of the author and his heroine have much in common. Both were born in Russia and then moved to Germany. The main profession of both is not literature, but they love it and take it professionally. Both achieved significant success in their main profession and in literature as well. Both have a wide and varied circle of friends and acquaintances, each of whom is a very influential and important person in their field of activity.