The author of the book «Lou Salome» Leonid Niessmann is a man of varied attainments. On the one hand he is a prominent scholar, engineer, Doctor of Technical Science, Professor. On the other hand, he is the author of poems, prose, patters, brochures and books. What is he in fact? How did it all start and where did it all come from?

Count Pyotr Petrovich Sheremetyev, Chairman of the Presidium of International Council of Russian Сompatriots, wrote about him the following: «Leonid Niessmann is one of the "children of the Arbat", a man of letters in his heart, who grew up in a theatrical atmosphere and has retained wide friendly connections in the artistic environment. Leonid is a "digithead" (Doctor of Technical Science) and a high school teacher, always hunting for and finding everything for himself – friends, great and small goals, points of application for his many-sided abilities. He gives us a vivid picture of life of one of us either through his creativity, his life journey, his experience or just in one or two phrases, by means of an accurate image or observation».

Strictly speaking, Leonid Niessmann does not belong to the «children of the Arbat», but to the wonderful cohort of «children of the Vakhtangov street». He lived in this street in his childhood and youth.

What a wonderful street! At that point in time it was located between the Arbat and the Dog Playground. Back then the most famous house in this street was, and still is, «Shchuka» – Theater School named after Boris Vasilyevich Shchukin. Besides, in the same house, but in its other wing, there lived a lot of actors, mainly from the Vakhtangov theater. Opposite «Shchuka» there was (and still is) a two-storey house, in which once lived Fyodor Shalyapin. Of course, he occupied the whole house. Then, after Shalyapin, when the house was divided into «common» apartments, Leonid Niessmann’s family used to live in one of them. Today Stage Directing Faculty of Shchukin Art School is located in this house – the one, which back in the old days I graduated from.

Leonid was a sociable boy and very quickly became friends with his peers, children of the actors who lived nearby. In his school years his friends were Misha Derzhavin, Shura Shirvindt, Slava Shalevitch, Mitya Dorliak, Natasha Zhuravleva. He shared the same apartment with the real beauty Valya Malyavina. In the course of time, they all became very famous actors.

Leonid studied in one of the Arbat schools and graduated with the gold medal. At first he wanted to go to «Shchuka», but life made some adjustments, and he, not without difficulty, entered one of the technical Universities of Moscow and graduated with honors. While studying at the University he actively participated in amateur performances, wrote lyrics for the student parties and «wits and humour» competitions.

After graduation, he worked as a designer, researcher, invented a lot, became one of the firsts in the country to introduce the automatic design system (CAD).

He defended his thesis successfully, combined the main work with teaching at various Universities in Moscow. Since then he has written and published more than 70 scientific works – author's certificates, articles, brochures, books (including several textbooks). All these are technical literature items.

But since school years Leonid Niessmann has aspired after fiction. And not only as a reader. Ever since he has been writing poetry and prose, participating in the creation of various performances, composing songs and patters, making translations from German and English.

Having moved to Germany, Leonid does not break ties with Russia, participates in the development and implementation of a number of successful joint

Russian-German projects. He has received the degree of Doctor of Technical Science and the title of Professor. He is actively involved in the work of the International Council of Russian Compatriots, being elected a member of its Presidium.

The circle of his friends and acquaintances is wide and diverse. 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.

To write the book, the author had to sift through a huge number of different sources in different languages. He did it!

But what’s the most important is that Leonid Niessmann has «brought back» Lou Salome to Russia. Until recently, she was widely known throughout Western Europe, but was virtually unknown in Russia, her homeland. Leonid Niessmann's book will help to repair this injustice.

Thank him for that!

Известная деятельница культурной жизни Европы конца XIX и начала XX века – философ, писатель, эссеист, психоаналитик, врач-психотерапевт – родилась в самом сердце России – в Санкт-Петербурге, в здании генерального штаба на Дворцовой площади. Ей была суждена слава в большом мире и практически полное забвение на родине.