Boris Pasternak
Born	February 10 [O.S. January 29] 1890 Moscow, Russian Empire
Died	May 30, 1960 (aged 70) Peredelkino, USSR
Occupation	poet, writer
Notable work(s)	Doctor Zhivago
Notable award(s)	Nobel Prize in Literature 1958

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (Russian: Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к) (February 10 [O.S. January 29] 1890 — May 30, 1960) was a Nobel Prize-winning Russian poet and writer, in the West best known for his epic novel Doctor Zhivago. Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead Old Style (or OS) and New Style (or NS) are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year Year 1890 ( MDCCCXC) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Events 1416 - The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund a supporter of Antipope John XXIII burns Jerome of Prague following Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Peredelkino is a Dacha complex situated just to the south-west of Moscow. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" A writer is anyone who creates a written work although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally as well as those who have written in many different forms Doctor Zhivago ( Russian: Доктор Живаго, Doktor Zhivago) is a 20th century Novel by Boris Pasternak. The Nobel Prize in Literature (Nobelpriset i litteratur is awarded annually since 1901 to an author from any country who has in the words from the will of Alfred Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead Old Style (or OS) and New Style (or NS) are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year Year 1890 ( MDCCCXC) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1416 - The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund a supporter of Antipope John XXIII burns Jerome of Prague following Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Nobel Prize (Nobelpriset (Nobelprisen is a Swedish prize established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Peace, Literature Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" A writer is anyone who creates a written work although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally as well as those who have written in many different forms Doctor Zhivago ( Russian: Доктор Живаго, Doktor Zhivago) is a 20th century Novel by Boris Pasternak. The novel is a tragedy, whose events span through the last period of Tsarist Russia and early days of Soviet Union, and was first translated and published in Italy in 1957. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 In Russia, however, Boris Pasternak is most celebrated as a poet. My Sister Life, written in 1917, is arguably the most influential collection of poetry published in Russian language in the 20th century. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages

Early life

Pasternak was born in Moscow on February 10, (Gregorian), 1890 (Julian January 29) into a Jewish family ^[1]. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ His father was a prominent painter, Leonid Pasternak, professor at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and his mother was Rosa (Raitza) Kaufman, a concert pianist, the daughter of painter Isidor Kaufman. Leonid Osipovich Pasternak (born Yitzhok-Leib, or Isaak Iosifovich Posternak; Леонид Осипович Пастернак April 4 1862 The Moscow School of Painting Sculpture and Architecture (Московское училище живописи ваяния и зодчества МУЖВЗ was one of the largest educational Leonid Osipovich Pasternak (born Yitzhok-Leib, or Isaak Iosifovich Posternak; Леонид Осипович Пастернак April 4 1862 Pasternak was brought up in a highly cosmopolitan atmosphere, and visitors to his home included pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, poet Rainer Maria Rilke, and writer Leo Tolstoy. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Сергей Васильевич Рахманинов Rainer Maria Rilke (also Rainer Maria von Rilke (4 December 1875 &ndash 29 December 1926 is considered one of the German language 's greatest 20th century Poets Leo Tolstoy, or Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy ( –) (Лев Никола́евич Толсто́й, was a Russian Writer widely regarded

Inspired by his neighbour Alexander Scriabin, Pasternak resolved to become a composer and entered the Moscow Conservatory. Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Скря́бин Aleksandr Nikolaevič Skrjabin; sometimes transliterated as Skriabin The Moscow Conservatory (Московская Государственная Консерватория им In 1910 he abruptly left the conservatory for the University of Marburg, where he studied under Neo-Kantian philosophers Hermann Cohen and Nicolai Hartmann. The University of Marburg (Philipps-Universität Marburg 'Philip's University Marburg' was founded in 1527 by Landgrave Philip I of Hesse (usually Neo-Kantianism means a revived or modified type of Philosophy along the lines of that laid down by Immanuel Kant in the Eighteenth century or (sometimes Hermann Cohen ( July 4, 1842 &ndash April 4, 1918) was a German - Jewish philosopher, one of the founders of the Nicolai Hartmann (Niklāvs Hartmanis February 20, 1882 in Riga, Latvia – October 9, 1950) was a German Although invited to become a scholar, he decided against making philosophy a profession and returned to Moscow in 1914. His first poetry collection, influenced by Alexander Blok and the Russian Futurists, was published later the same year. Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (Александр Александрович Блок &ndash August 7, 1921 waswas one of the most gifted lyrical poets produced by Russia "Russian Futurists" redirects here For the band see The Russian Futurists.

Pasternak's early verse cleverly dissimulates his preoccupation with Kant's ideas. Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg Its fabric includes striking alliterations, wild rhythmic combinations, day-to-day vocabulary, and hidden allusions to his favourite poets like Rilke, Lermontov and German Romantic poets. Rainer Maria Rilke (also Rainer Maria von Rilke (4 December 1875 &ndash 29 December 1926 is considered one of the German language 's greatest 20th century Poets Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов) ( –) a Russian Romantic Writer and Poet, sometimes

During the First World War , he taught and worked at a chemical factory in Vsevolodovo-Vilve (Perm gubernia, near Perm), which undoubtedly provided him with material for Dr. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Perm (Пермь pʲɛrmʲ is a city and administrative center of Perm Krai, Russia. Zhivago many years later. Unlike many of his relatives and friends, Pasternak did not leave Russia after the revolution. Instead, he was fascinated with the new ideas and possibilities that revolution brought to life.

My Sister Life

Pasternak spent the summer of 1917 living in the steppe country near Saratov, where he fell in love. History The Legend of Saratov Gelonus, a legendary Scythian city and the northernmost Greek colony may be conjectured to have been situated in the locality This passion resulted in the collection My Sister Life, which he wrote over a period of three months, but was too embarrassed to publish for four years because of its novel style. When it finally was published in 1921, the book revolutionised Russian poetry. It made Pasternak the model for younger poets, and decisively changed the poetry of Osip Mandelshtam, Marina Tsvetayeva and others. Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam (also spelled Mandelshtam) (О́сип Эми́льевич Мандельшта́м ( &ndash December 27, 1938) was a Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (Мари́на Ива́новна Цвета́ева Marina Ivanovna Cvetaeva ( &ndash 31 August 1941 was a Russian and Soviet Poet

Following My Sister Life, Pasternak produced some hermetic pieces of uneven quality, including his masterpiece - the lyric cycle entitled Rupture (1921). Authors such as Vladimir Mayakovsky, Andrey Bely, and Vladimir Nabokov applauded Pasternak's poems as works of pure, unbridled inspiration. Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (Влади́мир Влади́мирович Маяко́вский ( &ndash April 14, 1930) was a Russian poet and Andrei Bely (Андрей Белый was the pseudonym of Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev ( &ndash January 8, 1934) a Russian novelist poet This page is about the novelist For his father the politician see Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov. In the late 1920s, he also participated in the much celebrated tripartite correspondence with Rilke and Tsvetayeva. Rainer Maria Rilke (also Rainer Maria von Rilke (4 December 1875 &ndash 29 December 1926 is considered one of the German language 's greatest 20th century Poets Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (Мари́на Ива́новна Цвета́ева Marina Ivanovna Cvetaeva ( &ndash 31 August 1941 was a Russian and Soviet Poet ^[2]

By the end of the 1920s, Pasternak increasingly felt that his colourful modernist style was at odds with the doctrine of Socialist Realism approved by the Communist party. Socialist realism is a teleologically -oriented style of realistic art which has as its purpose the furtherance of the goals of Socialism and Communism He attempted to make his poetry more comprehensible to the masses by reworking his earlier pieces and starting two lengthy poems on the Russian Revolution. See also Russian Revolution (1905 The Russian Revolution of 1916 refers to a series of popular revolutions in Russia, and the events surrounding them He also turned to prose and wrote several autobiographical stories, notably The Childhood of Lovers and Safe Conduct.

Second Birth

Boris Pasternak (in the foreground) and Korney Chukovsky at the first Congress of the Soviet Union of Writers in 1934. Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky (Корней Иванович Чуковский March 31 NS 1882 - October 28 1969) was one of

By 1932, Pasternak had strikingly reshaped his style to make it acceptable to the Soviet public and printed the new collection of poems aptly entitled The Second Birth. Although its Caucasian pieces were as brilliant as the earlier efforts, the book alienated the core of Pasternak's refined audience abroad. He simplified his style even further for his next collection of patriotic verse, Early Trains (1943), which prompted Nabokov to describe Pasternak as a "weeping Bolshevik" and "Emily Dickinson in trousers. This page is about the novelist For his father the politician see Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov. "

During the great purges of the later 1930s, Pasternak became progressively disillusioned with Communist ideals. Reluctant to publish his own poetry, he turned to translating Shakespeare (Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear), Goethe (Faust), Rilke (Requiem für eine Freundin), Paul Verlaine, and Georgian poets. William Shakespeare ( baptised Hamlet is a Tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601 Macbeth is among the best-known of William Shakespeare 's plays, and is his shortest tragedy, believed to have been written some time between King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1603 and 1606 and is considered one of his greatest works ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfgaŋ fɔn ˈgøːtə (in English generally ˈgɝːtə 28 August 1749 22 March 1832 was a German writer Faust or Faustus ( Latin for "auspicious" or "lucky" is the protagonist of a classic German Legend in which he makes Rainer Maria Rilke (also Rainer Maria von Rilke (4 December 1875 &ndash 29 December 1926 is considered one of the German language 's greatest 20th century Poets Paul-Marie Verlaine (vɛʁˈlɛn March 30, 1844 &ndash January 8, 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between Pasternak's translations of Shakespeare have proved popular with the Russian public because of their colloquial, modernised dialogues, but critics accused him of "pasternakizing" the English playwright. Although he was widely panned for excessive subjectivism, Stalin is said to have crossed Pasternak's name off an arrest list during the purges, saying "Don't touch this cloud dweller. Great Purge (Большая чистка transliterated Bolshaya chistka) was a series of campaigns of Political repression and Persecution "Another version of Stalin's remark, possibly on a separate occasion, is "Leave that Holy Fool alone!"

His cousin, Polish poet Leon Pasternak was not so lucky. Leon Pasternak ( 12 August 1910, Lemberg, Austro-Hungarian Empire (soon became Lwow Poland, now Lviv Ukraine) - 14 As a result of his political activities in Poland — writing satirical verses for socialist revolutionary periodicals - he was imprisoned in 1934 in the Bereza Kartuska detention camp. The Bereza Kartuska prison or detention camp (Miejsce Odosobnienia w Berezie Kartuskiej "Place of Isolation at Bereza Kartuska" was a Polish

Doctor Zhivago

Several years before the start of the Second World War, Pasternak and his wife settled in Peredelkino, a village for writers several miles from Moscow. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Peredelkino is a Dacha complex situated just to the south-west of Moscow. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of He was filled with a love of life that gave his poetry a hopeful tone. This is reflected in the name of his autobiographical hero Zhivago, derived from the Russian word for live. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Another famous character, Lara, is said to have been modeled on his mistress, Olga Ivinskaya. ^[3]

As the book was frowned upon by the Soviet authorities, Doctor Zhivago was smuggled abroad by his friend Isaiah Berlin and published in an Italian translation by the Italian publishing house Feltrinelli in 1957. Doctor Zhivago ( Russian: Доктор Живаго, Doktor Zhivago) is a 20th century Novel by Boris Pasternak. Sir Isaiah Berlin, OM (6 June 1909 &ndash 5 November 1997 was a philosopher and historian of ideas regarded as one of the leading liberal thinkers of the twentieth century The novel became an instant sensation, and was subsequently translated and published in many non-Soviet bloc countries. In 1958 and 1959, the American edition spent 26 weeks at the top of The New York Times' bestseller list. Although none of his Soviet critics had the chance to read the proscribed novel, some of them publicly demanded, "kick the pig out of our kitchen-garden," i. e. , expel Pasternak from the USSR. This led to a jocular Russian saying used to poke fun at illiterate criticism, "I did not read Pasternak, but I condemn him". Doctor Zhivago was eventually published in the USSR in 1988. ^[4]

The screen adaptation, directed by David Lean, was of epic proportions, being toured in the roadshow tradition, and starred Omar Sharif and Julie Christie. Doctor Zhivago ( Доктор Живаго) is a 1965 drama - romance - War film directed by David Lean and loosely Sir David Lean KBE ( 25 March, 1908 &ndash 16 April, 1991) was an English Film director and producer Omar Sharif ( عمر الشريف; born April 10, 1932) is a two-time Academy Award -nominated and Golden Globe -winning Egyptian Julie Frances Christie (born April 14, 1941) is a British actress. Concentrating on the romantic aspects of the tale, it quickly became a worldwide blockbuster, but wasn't released in Russia until near the time of the fall of the Soviet Union.

Nobel Prize

Pasternak house in Peredelkino, where the poet died. Peredelkino is a Dacha complex situated just to the south-west of Moscow.

Pasternak was named the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958. The Nobel Prize in Literature (Nobelpriset i litteratur is awarded annually since 1901 to an author from any country who has in the words from the will of Alfred On October 25, two days after hearing that he had won, Pasternak sent the following telegram to the Swedish Academy:

Immensely thankful, touched, proud, astonished, abashed. Events 1147 - The Portuguese, under Afonso I, and Crusaders from England and Flanders conquer Lisbon after a The Swedish Academy (Svenska Akademien founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden.

However, four days later came another telegram:

Considering the meaning this award has been given in the society to which I belong, I must refuse it. Please do not take offense at my voluntary rejection.

The Swedish Academy announced:

This refusal, of course, in no way alters the validity of the award. There remains only for the Academy, however, to announce with regret that the presentation of the Prize cannot take place. ^[5]

Reading between the lines of Pasternak's second telegram, it is clear he declined the award out of fear that he would be stripped of his citizenship were he to travel to Stockholm to accept it. ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the After struggling a lifetime to avoid leaving Russia, this was not a prospect he welcomed.

Despite turning down the Nobel Prize, Soviet officials soured on Pasternak, and he was threatened at the very least with expulsion. However, it appears that the Prime Minister of India, Pandit Nehru, may also have spoken with Khrushchev about this. Jawaharlal Nehru (जवाहरलाल नेहरू ʤəʋäɦəɾläl nɛɦɾu (14 November 1889 27 May 1964 was a major political leader of the Congress Party ^[6], and Pasternak was not exiled or imprisoned.

Despite this, a famous Bill Mauldin cartoon at the time showed Pasternak and another prisoner in Siberia, splitting trees in the snow. William Henry "Bill" Mauldin ( October 29, 1921 &ndash January 22, 2003) was a two-time Pulitzer Prize -winning In the caption, Pasternak says, "I won the Nobel Prize for literature. What was your crime?" The cartoon won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1959. The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning has been awarded since 1922 for a distinguished cartoon or portfolio of cartoons published during the year characterized ^[7]

The Nobel medal was finally presented to Pasternak's son, Yevgeny, at a ceremony in Stockholm during the Nobel week of December 1989. ^[8] At the ceremony, the Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich played a Bach serenade to honor his deceased countryman. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich KBE ( Russian: Мстисла́в

Death and legacy

Pasternak's post-Zhivago poetry probes the universal questions of love, immortality, and reconciliation with God. ^[9][10]

Pasternak died of lung cancer on May 30, 1960. Lung cancer is a Disease of uncontrolled Cell growth in tissues of the Lung. Events 1416 - The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund a supporter of Antipope John XXIII burns Jerome of Prague following Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Despite only a small notice appearing in the Literary Gazette, thousands of people traveled from Moscow to his funeral in Peredelkino. "Volunteers carried his open coffin to his burial place and those who were present (including the poet Andrey Voznesensky) recited from memory the banned poem 'Hamlet'. Andrey Andreyevich Voznesensky (Андре́й Андре́евич Вознесе́нский (b "^[6] The poet and bard Alexander Galich wrote a politically charged song dedicated to his memory. For other meanings of the word see Bard (disambiguation. The term bard (бард Alexander Galich (Александр Аркадьевич Га́лич (born Alexander Aronovich Ginzburg October 19, 1918 – December 15,

A minor planet 3508 Pasternak, discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Georgievna Karachkina in 1980 is named after him. Minor planet is a term used since the 19th century to describe objects such as Asteroids that are in Orbit around the Sun but are not Planets 3508 Pasternak (1980 DO5 is a Main-belt Asteroid discovered on February 21, 1980 by L The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Lyudmila Georgievna Karachkina (Людмила Георгіївна Карачкіна Людмила Георгиевна Карачкина is a Soviet Russian or Ukrainian ^[11]

Facts

Musical Artist Regina Spektor recites a poem written in 1912 by Pasternak in her song "Apres Moi" from her album "Begin to Hope". Regina Spektor (Регина Спектор born February 18, 1980) is a Soviet -born Jewish- American Singer-songwriter and

References

External links

• Boris Pasternak was listed in the International Music Score Library Project
• 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Homegrown Doctor Zhivago to Debut on Russian Television
• PBS biography of Pasternak
• Read Pasternak's interview with The Paris Review
• (Russian) Boris Pasternak Poem
• (Russian) Pasternak: biography, photos, poems, prose, critical essays
• (Russian) Boris Pasternak: poems, biography, photo