Boris Pasternak

1890

Doctor Zhivago has been part of the main Russian school curriculum since 2003. ==Early life== Pasternak was born in Moscow on 10 February (Gregorian), 1890 (29 January, Julian) into a wealthy, assimilated Jewish family.

of the Birth of Boris Pasternak, 1890–1960" Mozambique issued a miniature sheet depicting Boris Pasternak.

1903

3 (The Divine Poem), in 1903. Pasternak began to compose at the age of 13.

1904

The family claimed descent on the paternal line from Isaac Abarbanel, the famous 15th-century Sephardic Jewish philosopher, Bible commentator, and treasurer of Portugal. === Early education === From 1904 to 1907, Boris Pasternak was the cloister-mate of Peter Minchakievich (1890–1963) in Holy Dormition Pochayiv Lavra, located in West Ukraine.

1905

Pasternak's translations of stage plays by Goethe, Schiller, Calderón de la Barca and Shakespeare remain very popular with Russian audiences. Pasternak is the author of Doctor Zhivago (1957), a novel that takes place between the Russian Revolution of 1905 and the Second World War.

He attempted to make his poetry more comprehensible by reworking his earlier pieces and starting two lengthy poems on the Russian Revolution of 1905.

1907

The family claimed descent on the paternal line from Isaac Abarbanel, the famous 15th-century Sephardic Jewish philosopher, Bible commentator, and treasurer of Portugal. === Early education === From 1904 to 1907, Boris Pasternak was the cloister-mate of Peter Minchakievich (1890–1963) in Holy Dormition Pochayiv Lavra, located in West Ukraine.

1908

Boyhood friends, they parted in 1908, friendly but with different politics, never to see each other again.

According to Ivinskaya, Pasternak had regarded Stalin as a, "giant of the pre-Christian era." Therefore, Pasternak's Christian-themed poems were, "a form of protest." On 9 September 1958, the Literary Gazette critic Viktor Pertsov retaliated by denouncing, "the decadent religious poetry of Pasternak, which reeks of mothballs from the Symbolist suitcase of 1908–10 manufacture." Furthermore, the author received much [mail] from Communists both at home and abroad.

1909

His single-movement Piano Sonata of 1909 shows a more mature and individual voice.

1910

Pasternak wrote, According to Max Hayward, "In November 1910, when Tolstoy fled from his home and died in the stationmaster's house at Astapovo, Leonid Pasternak was informed by telegram and he went there immediately, taking his son Boris with him, and made a drawing of Tolstoy on his deathbed." Regular visitors to the Pasternaks' home also included Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alexander Scriabin, Lev Shestov, Rainer Maria Rilke.

In 1910 he abruptly left for the German University of Marburg, where he studied under Neo-Kantian philosophers Hermann Cohen, Nicolai Hartmann and Paul Natorp. ==Life and career== === Olga Freidenberg === In 1910 Pasternak was reunited with his cousin, Olga Freidenberg (1890–1955).

From 1910 Pasternak and Freidenberg exchanged frequent letters, and their correspondence lasted over 40 years until 1954.

In conversation with Ivinskaya, Pasternak explained that the pig dictator Napoleon, in the novel, "vividly reminded" him of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. ===Doctor Zhivago=== Although it contains passages written in the 1910s and 1920s, Doctor Zhivago was not completed until 1956.

The high achievements of his mother discouraged him from becoming a pianist, but – inspired by Scriabin – he entered the Moscow Conservatory, but left abruptly in 1910 at the age of twenty, to study philosophy in Marburg University.

1912

They met in Marburg during the summer of 1912 when Boris' father, Leonid Pasternak, painted her portrait. Although Professor Cohen encouraged him to remain in Germany and to pursue a Philosophy doctorate, Pasternak decided against it.

1914

His involvement with the Futurist movement as a whole reached its peak when, in 1914, he published a satirical article in Rukonog, which attacked the jealous leader of the "Mezzanine of Poetry", Vadim Shershenevich, who was criticizing Lirika and the Ego-Futurists because Shershenevich himself was barred from collaborating with Centrifuge, the reason being that he was such a talentless poet.

1917

Composed in 1917, Pasternak's first book of poems, My Sister, Life, was published in Berlin in 1922 and soon became an important collection in the Russian language.

After World War One and the Revolution, fighting for the Provisional or Republican government under Kerensky, and then escaping a Communist jail and execution, Minchakievich trekked across Siberia in 1917 and became an American citizen.

Pasternak's first and second books of poetry were published shortly after these events. Another failed love affair in 1917 inspired the poems in his third and first major book, My Sister, Life.

Unlike the rest of his family and many of his closest friends, Pasternak chose not to leave Russia after the October Revolution of 1917.

1920

Both Pro-Soviet writers and their White emigre equivalents applauded Pasternak's poetry as pure, unbridled inspiration. In the late 1920s, he also participated in the much celebrated tripartite correspondence with Rilke and Tsvetayeva.

As the 1920s wore on, however, Pasternak increasingly felt that his colourful style was at odds with a less educated readership.

In conversation with Ivinskaya, Pasternak explained that the pig dictator Napoleon, in the novel, "vividly reminded" him of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. ===Doctor Zhivago=== Although it contains passages written in the 1910s and 1920s, Doctor Zhivago was not completed until 1956.

No Soviet author had attempted to deal with Western publishers since the 1920s, when such behavior led the Soviet State to declare war on Boris Pilnyak and Evgeny Zamyatin.

1922

Composed in 1917, Pasternak's first book of poems, My Sister, Life, was published in Berlin in 1922 and soon became an important collection in the Russian language.

According to Max Hayward, When it finally was published in 1922, Pasternak's My Sister, Life revolutionised Russian poetry.

(The collection Zhenia's Childhood and Other Stories would be published in 1982.) In 1922 Pasternak married Evgeniya Lurye (Евгения Лурье), a student at the Art Institute.

1932

He explained: By 1932, Pasternak had strikingly reshaped his style to make it more understandable to the general public and printed the new collection of poems, aptly titled 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, which was largely composed of anti-communist emigres. In 1932 Pasternak fell in love with Zinaida Neuhaus, the wife of the Russian pianist Heinrich Neuhaus.

1934

They both got divorces and married two years later. He continued to change his poetry, simplifying his style and language through the years, as expressed in his next book, Early Trains (1943). ===Stalin Epigram=== In April 1934 Osip Mandelstam recited his "Stalin Epigram" to Pasternak.

So let's make out that I heard nothing." On the night of 14 May 1934, Mandelstam was arrested at his home based on a warrant signed by NKVD boss Genrikh Yagoda.

1936

The cousins last met in 1936. === Ida Wissotzkaya === Pasternak fell in love with Ida Wissotzkaya, a girl from a notable Moscow Jewish family of tea merchants, whose company Wissotzky Tea was the largest tea company in the world.

1937

Stalin finally said, in a mocking tone of voice: "I see, you just aren't able to stick up for a comrade," and put down the receiver. ===Great Purge=== According to Pasternak, during the 1937 show trial of General Iona Yakir and Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky, the Union of Soviet Writers requested all members to add their names to a statement supporting the death penalty for the defendants.

1942

Osip Mandelstam, however, privately warned him, "Your collected works will consist of twelve volumes of translations, and only one of your own work." In a 1942 letter, Pasternak declared, "I am completely opposed to contemporary ideas about translation.

1943

According to Ivinskaya, he repeatedly helped to dispose of German bombs which fell on it. In 1943, Pasternak was finally granted permission to visit the soldiers at the front.

1945

He read his poetry and talked extensively with the active and injured troops. With the end of the war in 1945, the Soviet people expected to see the end of the devastation of Nazism, and hoped for the end of Stalin's Purges.

1946

Then, an end to the war in favour of our allies, civilized countries with democratic traditions, would have meant a hundred times less suffering for our people than that which Stalin again inflicted on it after his victory." ===Olga Ivinskaya=== In October 1946, the twice married Pasternak met Olga Ivinskaya, a 34 year old single mother employed by Novy Mir.

According to the former Nobel Committee head Lars Gyllensten, his nomination was discussed every year from 1946 to 1950, then again in 1957 (it was finally awarded in 1958).

1947

Pasternak gave his lover a book of Petőfi with the inscription, "Petőfi served as a code in May and June 1947, and my close translations of his lyrics are an expression, adapted to the requirements of the text, of my feelings and thoughts for you and about you.

I worked on him a good deal in 1947 and 1948, when I first came to know you.

1948

In memory of it all, B.P., 13 May 1948." Pasternak later noted on a photograph of himself, "Petőfi is magnificent with his descriptive lyrics and picture of nature, but you are better still.

I worked on him a good deal in 1947 and 1948, when I first came to know you.

Soon after, Ivinskaya happened to be ill at Popova's apartment, when suddenly Zinaida Pasternak arrived and confronted her. Ivinskaya later recalled, In 1948, Pasternak advised Ivinskaya to resign her job at Novy Mir, which was becoming extremely difficult due to their relationship.

1949

In time, they began to refer to her apartment on Potapov Street as, "Our Shop." On the evening of 6 October 1949, Ivinskaya was arrested at her apartment by the KGB.

1950

In an autobiographical essay published in the 1950s, Pasternak described the execution of Tabidze and the suicides of Marina Tsvetaeva and Paolo Iashvili as the greatest heartbreaks of his life. Ivinskaya wrote, "I believe that between Stalin and Pasternak there was an incredible, silent duel." ===World War II=== When the Luftwaffe began bombing Moscow, Pasternak immediately began to serve as a fire warden on the roof of the writer's building on Lavrushinski Street.

I owe my life, and the fact that they did not touch me in those years, to her heroism and endurance." ===Translating Goethe=== Pasternak's translation of the first part of Faust led him to be attacked in the August 1950 edition of Novy Mir.

According to the former Nobel Committee head Lars Gyllensten, his nomination was discussed every year from 1946 to 1950, then again in 1957 (it was finally awarded in 1958).

1953

Pasternak further declared that, despite the attacks on his translation, his contract for the second part had not been revoked. ===Khrushchev thaw=== When Stalin died of a stroke on 5 March 1953, Ivinskaya was still imprisoned in the Gulag, and Pasternak was in Moscow.

1954

From 1910 Pasternak and Freidenberg exchanged frequent letters, and their correspondence lasted over 40 years until 1954.

1956

Novelist Leo Tolstoy was a close family friend, as Pasternak recalled, "my father illustrated his books, went to see him, revered him, and ...the whole house was imbued with his spirit." In a 1956 essay, Pasternak recalled his father's feverish work creating illustrations for Tolstoy's novel Resurrection.

In conversation with Ivinskaya, Pasternak explained that the pig dictator Napoleon, in the novel, "vividly reminded" him of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. ===Doctor Zhivago=== Although it contains passages written in the 1910s and 1920s, Doctor Zhivago was not completed until 1956.

In March 1956, the Italian Communist Party sent a journalist, Sergio D'Angelo, to work in the Soviet Union, and his status as a journalist as well as his membership in the Italian Communist Party allowed him to have access to various aspects of the cultural life in Moscow at the time.

In a 1956 essay, Pasternak wrote: "Translating Shakespeare is a task which takes time and effort.

1957

Pasternak, however, refused to change his mind and informed an emissary from Feltrinelli that he was prepared to undergo any sacrifice in order to see Doctor Zhivago published. In 1957, Feltrinelli announced that the novel would be published by his company.

Central Intelligence Agency's secret purchase of hundreds of copies of the book as it came off the presses around the world – see "Nobel Prize" section below), Doctor Zhivago became an instant sensation throughout the non-Communist world upon its release in November 1957.

According to the former Nobel Committee head Lars Gyllensten, his nomination was discussed every year from 1946 to 1950, then again in 1957 (it was finally awarded in 1958).

In one of the files, dated 12 December 1957, the CIA agents recommend: "Dr.

1958

Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958, an event that enraged the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which forced him to decline the prize, though in 1989 his descendants were able to accept it in his name.

He worked intensively on the second part of Doctor Zhivago." In a 1958 letter to a friend in West Germany, Pasternak wrote, "She was put in jail on my account, as the person considered by the secret police to be closest to me, and they hoped that by means of a gruelling interrogation and threats they could extract enough evidence from her to put me on trial.

It was released in August 1958, and remained the only edition available for more than fifty years.

Between 1958 and 1959, the English language edition spent 26 weeks at the top of The New York Times bestseller list. Ivinskaya's daughter Irina circulated typed copies of the novel in Samizdat.

According to Ivinskaya, Pasternak had regarded Stalin as a, "giant of the pre-Christian era." Therefore, Pasternak's Christian-themed poems were, "a form of protest." On 9 September 1958, the Literary Gazette critic Viktor Pertsov retaliated by denouncing, "the decadent religious poetry of Pasternak, which reeks of mothballs from the Symbolist suitcase of 1908–10 manufacture." Furthermore, the author received much [mail] from Communists both at home and abroad.

According to the former Nobel Committee head Lars Gyllensten, his nomination was discussed every year from 1946 to 1950, then again in 1957 (it was finally awarded in 1958).

Pasternak wrote that he was wracked with torments and anxieties at the thought of placing his loved ones in danger. On 23 October 1958, Boris Pasternak was announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize.

understand her: the memory of Stalin's camps was too fresh, [and] she tried to protect him." On 31 October 1958, the Union of Soviet Writers held a trial behind closed doors.

Yevgeny Yevtushenko did attend, but walked out in disgust. According to Yevgenii Pasternak, his father would have been exiled had it not been for Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who telephoned Khrushchev and threatened to organize a Committee for Pasternak's protection. It is possible that the 1958 Nobel Prize prevented Pasternak's imprisonment due to the Soviet State's fear of international protests.

Zhivago should be published in a maximum number of foreign editions, for maximum free world discussion and acclaim and consideration for such honor as the Nobel prize" [sic] In its announcement of the declassification of the Zhivago documents the CIA states: "After working secretly to publish the Russian-language edition in the Netherlands, the CIA moved quickly to ensure that copies of Doctor Zhivago were available for distribution to Soviet visitors at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair.

1959

Pasternak stayed in Russia. In a 1959 letter to Jacqueline de Proyart, Pasternak recalled, Shortly after his birth, Pasternak's parents had joined the Tolstoyan Movement.

Between 1958 and 1959, the English language edition spent 26 weeks at the top of The New York Times bestseller list. Ivinskaya's daughter Irina circulated typed copies of the novel in Samizdat.

Yevgenii Pasternak believes, however, that the resulting persecution fatally weakened his father's health. Meanwhile, Bill Mauldin produced a cartoon about Pasternak that won the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.

Boris Pasternak wrote his last complete book, When the Weather Clears, in 1959. According to Ivinskaya, Pasternak continued to stick to his daily writing schedule even during the controversy over Doctor Zhivago.

1960

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (; Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к|p=bɐˈrʲis lʲɪɐˈnʲidəvʲɪtɕ pəstɨrˈnak; 30 May 1960) was a Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator.

However, Pasternak fell ill with terminal lung cancer before he could complete the first play of the trilogy. ==="Unique Days"=== "Unique Days" was the last poem Pasternak wrote. ==Death== Boris Pasternak died of lung cancer in his dacha in Peredelkino on the evening of 30 May 1960.

1961

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ivinskaya sued for the return of the letters and documents seized by the KGB in 1961.

1962

The KGB quietly released them, Irina after one year, in 1962, and Olga in 1964.

1964

The KGB quietly released them, Irina after one year, in 1962, and Olga in 1964.

1965

based on the eponymous poem from the diptych Doktor Zhivago Na Strastnoy ===Adaptations=== The first screen adaptation of Doctor Zhivago, adapted by Robert Bolt and directed by David Lean, appeared in 1965.

1978

In 1978, her memoirs were smuggled abroad and published in Paris.

1982

(The collection Zhenia's Childhood and Other Stories would be published in 1982.) In 1922 Pasternak married Evgeniya Lurye (Евгения Лурье), a student at the Art Institute.

1984

They contain correspondence, drafts of Doctor Zhivago and other writings, photographs, and other material, of Boris Pasternak and other family members. Since 2003, the novel Doctor Zhivago has entered the Russian school curriculum, where it is read in the 11th grade of secondary school. ===Commemoration=== In October 1984 by decision of a court, Pasternak’s dacha in Peredelkino was taken from the writer's relatives and transferred to state ownership.

1986

Two years later, in 1986, the House-Museum of Boris Pasternak was founded (the first house-museum in the USSR). In 1990, the year of the poet’s 100th anniversary, the Pasternak Museum opened its doors in Chistopol, in the house where the poet evacuated to during the Great Patriotic War (1941–1943), and in Peredelkino, where he lived for many years until his death.

1988

An English translation by Max Hayward was published the same year under the title A Captive of Time: My Years with Pasternak. Ivinskaya was rehabilitated only in 1988.

1989

Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958, an event that enraged the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which forced him to decline the prize, though in 1989 his descendants were able to accept it in his name.

1990

Two years later, in 1986, the House-Museum of Boris Pasternak was founded (the first house-museum in the USSR). In 1990, the year of the poet’s 100th anniversary, the Pasternak Museum opened its doors in Chistopol, in the house where the poet evacuated to during the Great Patriotic War (1941–1943), and in Peredelkino, where he lived for many years until his death.

Tsereteli. In 1990 as part of the series "Nobel Prize Winners" the USSR and Sweden ("Nobel Prize Winners – Literature") issued stamps depicting Boris Pasternak. In 2015 as part of the series "125th Annive.

1995

Ivinskaya died of cancer on 8 September 1995.

2002

Concentrating on the love triangle aspects of the novel, the film became a worldwide blockbuster, but was unavailable in Russia until Perestroika. In 2002, the novel was adapted as a television miniseries.

2003

Doctor Zhivago has been part of the main Russian school curriculum since 2003. ==Early life== Pasternak was born in Moscow on 10 February (Gregorian), 1890 (29 January, Julian) into a wealthy, assimilated Jewish family.

They contain correspondence, drafts of Doctor Zhivago and other writings, photographs, and other material, of Boris Pasternak and other family members. Since 2003, the novel Doctor Zhivago has entered the Russian school curriculum, where it is read in the 11th grade of secondary school. ===Commemoration=== In October 1984 by decision of a court, Pasternak’s dacha in Peredelkino was taken from the writer's relatives and transferred to state ownership.

2008

He repeats and elaborates upon Feltrinelli's claims that the CIA operatives had photographed a manuscript of the novel and secretly printed a small number of books in the Russian language. Ivan Tolstoy explained on a Russian radio program Echo of Moscow, aired on 7 December 2008, his research about whether the Central Intelligence Agency helped Pasternak win the Nobel Prize.

2009

At the ceremony, acclaimed cellist and Soviet dissident Mstislav Rostropovich performed a Bach serenade in honor of his deceased countryman. A 2009 book by Ivan Tolstoi reasserts claims that British and American intelligence officers were involved in ensuring Pasternak's Nobel victory; another Russian researcher, however, disagreed.

2015

Tsereteli. In 1990 as part of the series "Nobel Prize Winners" the USSR and Sweden ("Nobel Prize Winners – Literature") issued stamps depicting Boris Pasternak. In 2015 as part of the series "125th Annive.

Although this issue was acknowledged by the postal administration of Mozambique, the issue was not placed on sale in Mozambique, and was only distributed to the new issue trade by Mozambique's philatelic agent. In 2015 as part of the series "125th Birth Anniversary of Boris Pasternak" Maldives issued a miniature sheet depicting Boris Pasternak.

Pasternak's Nobel Prize, the Principality of Monaco issued a postage stamp in his memory. On 27 January 2015, in honor of the poet’s 125th birthday, the Russian Post issued an envelope with the original stamp. On 1 October 2015, a monument to Pasternak was erected in Chistopol. On 10 February 2021, Google celebrated his 131st birthday with a Google Doodle.

2021

Pasternak's Nobel Prize, the Principality of Monaco issued a postage stamp in his memory. On 27 January 2015, in honor of the poet’s 125th birthday, the Russian Post issued an envelope with the original stamp. On 1 October 2015, a monument to Pasternak was erected in Chistopol. On 10 February 2021, Google celebrated his 131st birthday with a Google Doodle.




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