This Russian teacher has become a bizarre Instagram success after pasting the face of her favourite poet who died nearly a century ago onto the bodies of famous football players.
Russian teacher Alia Isalimova from the district of Isetsky in the south-central Russian region of Tyumen Oblast region has already amassed 50,000 followers after launching her social media dedication to Sergei Yesenin in December 2019.
Known for his bad-boy reputation, Yesenin, who died in 1925 aged 30, is considered one of Russia’s most popular and well-known poets.
Sergey Yesenin 
Sergey Yesenin
Isalimova, who teaches Russian language and literature at school, use the photos of Bayern Munich players and pastes Yesenin’s head on top of their bodies to compile an Instagram page of her favourite writer.
She also finishes off the post with a line from one of Yesenin’s poems.
Isalimova told local media: “Initially they were entertaining photos with witty comments below. I would add them to Stories on my private account and children (my students) would find them and say ‘wow, this is so cool’.”
She said that her students told her to launch a separate account and she took them up on the suggestion.
Isalimova told local media that her project has grabbed the students’ attention and they have started reading Yesenin’s work.
Sergey Yesenin 
Sergey Yesenin
The Instagram page has already reached 50,000 followers and is growing every hour.
Netizen ‘Lianchika17’ said: “You did such a good job. This is so cool and ‘out of the box’.”
‘Svetlana’ commented: “Bravo! That’s simply remarkable.”
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Story By: Anastasia Smirnova, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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