PASTERNAK, BORIS LEONIDOVICH

PASTERNAK, BORIS LEONIDOVICH
PASTERNAK, BORIS LEONIDOVICH (1890–1960), Soviet Russian poet and novelist. A son of the painter leonid pasternak , the younger Pasternak ultimately became one of the very few Soviet writers whose work is essentially Christian in spirit. Born and educated in Moscow, he also studied at the University of Marburg, Germany. He is chiefly remembered as one of the truly great Russian poets of all time, his exquisitely polished verse being highly intellectual, erudite, and occasionally obscure. His prose, too, is essentially poetic in nature, emphasizing language, structure, and style. Among Pasternak's favorite subjects are the wholesomeness of nature, the artificiality of man-made ideas, and the futility of ideologies. A recurrent theme is the irrelevance of politics to human happiness, and the inability of truly sensitive and intelligent men to choose sides at times of political upheaval because unquestioning allegiance to any political grouping requires renunciation of one's intellectual and ethical independence and a willingness to condone violence perpetrated in the name of a noble cause. Pasternak's verse collections include Poverkhbaryerov ("Over the Barriers," 1917, 19312), Sestra moyazhizn ("My Sister–Life," 1922), Devyatsot pyaty god ("The Year 1905," 1927), and Vtoroye rozhdeniye ("Second Birth," 1932). After World War II he published a number of outstanding translations of world classics, mainly drama. Pasternak's abhorrence of violence and consequent flight from political realities in search of individual happiness forms the leitmotif of his most famous work, the novel Doctor Zhivago, which was smuggled out of the U.S.S.R. and first published in Italy in 1957 (Eng. tr., 1958). The event became a major political, as well as literary, sensation. In 1958 Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, but the political storm in the U.S.S.R., during which it was suggested that he be expelled from the country, forced him to decline the award. After his death, he was halfheartedly reinstated into the pantheon of Soviet poetry, and some of his verse was reprinted. Doctor Zhivago, however, continued to be banned. The novel reveals Pasternak's total estrangement from Judaism and his faith in the superiority of Christianity. The best Soviet appreciation of Pasternak was written by Andrei Sinyavsky (see yuli daniel ). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: P.S.R. Payne, The Three Worlds of Boris Pasternak (1962), incl. bibl.; G. Ruge, Pasternak: a Pictorial Biography (1959); G.R.A. Conquest, The Pasternak Affair; Courage of a Genius; a Documentary Report (1962); J. Stora, in: Cahiers du Monde Russe et Soviétique (July–Dec., 1968), 353–64. (Maurice Friedberg)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

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  • Pasternak,Boris Leonidovich — Pas·ter·nak (păsʹtər năk , pə styĭr näkʹ), Boris Leonidovich. 1890 1960. Russian writer whose Doctor Zhivago (1957), a novel of disillusionment with the Russian Revolution, was banned by Soviet authorities. He was forced to refuse the 1958 Nobel… …   Universalium

  • Pasternak, Boris Leonidovich — ▪ Russian author born Feb. 10 [Jan. 29, Old Style], 1890, Moscow, Russia died May 30, 1960, Peredelkino, near Moscow  Russian poet whose novel Doctor Zhivago helped win him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958 but aroused so much opposition in… …   Universalium

  • Pasternak, Boris Leonidovich — (1890–1960)    Soviet poet and novelist and Nobel laureate, 1958. Pasternak was the son of the painter Leonid Pasternak and the pianist Rosa Kaufmann. He grew up in Moscow, where his father was a well known portraitist and a close friend of… …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • Pasternak, Boris (Leonidovich) — born Feb. 10, 1890, Moscow, Russia died May 30, 1960, Peredelkino, near Moscow Russian poet and prose writer. He studied music and philosophy and after the Russian Revolution of 1917 worked in the library of the Soviet commissariat of education.… …   Universalium

  • Pasternak, Borís (Leonídovich) — (10 feb. 1890, Moscú, Rusia–30 may. 1960, Perediélkino, cerca de Moscú). Poeta y prosista ruso. Estudió música y filosofía. Después de la Revolución rusa de 1917, trabajó en la biblioteca del comisariado soviético de educación. Su poesía temprana …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Boris Leonidovich Pasternak — Boris Leonidowitsch Pasternak Boris Leonidowitsch Pasternak (russisch Борис Леонидович Пастернак, wiss. Transliteration Boris Leonidovič Pasternak; * 29. Januarjul./ 10. Februar 1890greg. in …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Boris Leonidovich Pasternak — Boris Pasternak Pour les articles homonymes, voir Pasternak. Boris Pasternak Activité(s) Poète, romancier …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Boris Leonidovich Pasternak — noun Russian writer whose best known novel was banned by Soviet authorities but translated and published abroad (1890 1960) • Syn: ↑Pasternak, ↑Boris Pasternak • Instance Hypernyms: ↑writer, ↑author …   Useful english dictionary

  • Boris Pasternak — Infobox Writer name = Boris Pasternak awards = awd|Nobel Prize in Literature|1958 imagesize = 150px birthdate = OldStyleDate|February 10|1890|January 29 birthplace = Moscow, Russian Empire deathdate = death date and age|1960|5|30|1890|2|10… …   Wikipedia

  • Boris Pasternak — noun Russian writer whose best known novel was banned by Soviet authorities but translated and published abroad (1890 1960) • Syn: ↑Pasternak, ↑Boris Leonidovich Pasternak • Instance Hypernyms: ↑writer, ↑author …   Useful english dictionary

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