sentences:  She is a granddaughter of the Russian writer and painter Leonid Volynski (Seven Days, Moscow 1956), and had access (first in Kiev and later in Moscow) to artistic and literary circles; famous writers Viktor Nekrasov and Alexander Galich were among these who had a particular influence on young Elena.At the age of 17 Kostioukovitch entered the M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, where she studied in the Philological Faculty in the Department of Italian Literature under the guidance of distinguished Prof. Galina Muravieva and of the Dean of the Russian Poetry and Translation Dept.