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Boris Pasternak

ボリス・パステルナーク

Boris Pasternak

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1890-02-10 （Moscow, Russian Empire）
Died
1960-05-30 （Peredelkino, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union） age 70
Nationality
Russian Empire, Soviet Union
Languages
Russian
Religion
Russian Orthodox

Career

Occupations
poet, novelist, literary translator, composer
Active Years
1913-1960
Influenced By
Leo Tolstoy, Rainer Maria Rilke, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Immanuel Kant (philosophical influence)
Influenced
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Dissident Russian writers
Nominations
Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature (1946–1950)

Education

Moscow Conservatory
Composition
Period: 少年期〜10代
Country: Russian Empire
Studied with Scriabin but abandoned a career as a composer due to lack of perfect pitch
Moscow University
Philosophy
Period: 1910年以前〜1910年頃
Country: Russian Empire
Studied philosophy
University of Marburg (Philipps-Universität Marburg)
Philosophy
Period: 1910–1914
Country: Germany
Studied neo-Kantian philosophy under Hermann Cohen and Nicolai Hartmann

Awards

Nobel Prize in Literature
1958
Work: Doctor Zhivago
Organization: Nobel Committee
Result: 受賞（ソ連当局の圧力により辞退）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Twin in the Clouds

1914 poetry

Early collection of poems showing symbolism and experimental tendencies.

youthful emotionsymbolism

My Sister — Life

1922 poetry

Representative collection of the 1920s, known for its rhythm and lyricism; an important work in Russian poetry.

lyricismpersonal loveexistential questions
Translations
  • Translated into Japanese by Kudo Masahiro and others

Doctor Zhivago

1957 novel

An epic novel set against the Russian Revolution and its aftermath, portraying the life and loves of the physician-poet Zhivago. Banned in the USSR, published abroad and central to Pasternak's Nobel recognition.

history and the individuallove and lossfreedom and repression
Adaptations
  • [film] Doctor Zhivago / David Lean (1965)
Translations
  • Translated into Japanese by Harako Rinjiro (1958) and others; multiple translations exist

Clear Weather Time

1959 poetry

Late collection dealing with universal themes of love, immortality and reconciliation with God.

lovefaithimmortality

Bibliography

  • Twin in the Clouds (1914)
  • My Sister — Life (1922)
  • 1905 (poetry, 1926)
  • Spectorsky (verse-novel, 1931)
  • On Early Trains (1943)
  • Faust (translation, 1953)
  • Shakespeare plays (translations, 1953)
  • Doctor Zhivago (1957/1958 published in West / 1987 published in USSR)
  • Clear Weather Time (1959)

Adaptations

  • Doctor Zhivago film adaptation (dir. David Lean, 1965)
  • Public commemorations such as recitation of banned poems at his funeral

Translations by Author

  • Translation of Goethe's Faust (1953)
  • Translations of Shakespeare's plays (1953)

Translations of Works

  • Japanese translations by Harako Rinjiro, Egawa Taku, Kudo Masahiro and others

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical and rhythmic poetryblend of symbolism and modernist elementshistorical perspective in epic narrative
Recurring Motifs
love and losspersonal memory and historydivinity and faith

Health

  • lung cancer
    1959–1960
    Died of lung cancer in 1960. Left unfinished works, including a play.

Legacy

A leading figure of modern Russian literature. My Sister — Life is a landmark of Russian poetry. The publication of Doctor Zhivago and the Nobel controversy drew international attention and influenced later dissident movements.

Museums

  • Pasternak House-Museum (Peredelkino dacha) Peredelkino, near Moscow

Archives

  • Collections held by the Hoover Institution, among others

In Popular Culture

  • Film adaptation of Doctor Zhivago and international debate over his Nobel Prize declination

Quotes

  • "for his important achievement both in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic tradition."
    Source: Nobel Committee citation (1958) (1958)
  • "I cannot hear well, and the world is veiled in mist. But it will clear. Do not forget to open the window tomorrow."
    Source: Reported last words (1960)

Trivia

  • Although selected for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1958, he was forced to decline under pressure from Soviet authorities.
  • As a youth he aspired to be a composer and studied with Scriabin, but later abandoned that career.
  • Doctor Zhivago was published in Italy in 1957 and not officially published in the USSR until 1987.