Boris Pasternak
A Russian poet and novelist who captured the soul of a tumultuous century and paid a profound personal price for his art.
1890–1960 (age 70)·Russian and Soviet writer·Birthday: February 10·The Lost Generation
Biography
Boris Pasternak lived through revolutions, wars, and ideological terror, channeling the era's upheavals into verse and prose of immense lyrical power. He first gained fame as a poet, his early work celebrated for its musical complexity and almost mystical connection to nature. The Stalinist purges forced a turn inward; he survived by focusing on literary translation, producing revered Russian versions of Shakespeare and Goethe. His defining act was the secret creation of 'Doctor Zhivago,' a sweeping novel of love, art, and individualism set against the Russian Revolution. Smuggled to the West and published in 1957, it became an international sensation and a Cold War symbol. The Soviet state denounced it, forcing Pasternak to refuse the Nobel Prize in Literature—a crushing capitulation that sealed his status as a quiet, enduring dissident.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Boris was born in 1890, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Boris Was Born
The biggest hits of 1890
Boris's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1890Born
Wounded Knee massacre marks the end of the Indian Wars
President: Benjamin Harrison
1895Started school
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1903Became a teenager
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1906Could drive
San Francisco earthquake devastates the city
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1908Could vote
Ford Model T goes into production
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1911Turned 21
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 in New York
President: William Howard Taft
1920Turned 30
Women gain the right to vote in the US
Home: $3,395President: Woodrow Wilson"Swanee" — Al Jolson
1930Turned 40
Pluto discovered
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,510President: Herbert Hoover"Body and Soul" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front
1940Turned 50
The Blitz: Germany bombs London
Gas: $0.18/galHome: $2,938Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I'll Never Smile Again" — Tommy DorseyBest Picture: Rebecca
1950Turned 60
Korean War begins
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,354Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Goodnight Irene" — Gordon Jenkins & The WeaversBest Picture: All About Eve
1960Turned 70
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
Key Achievements
- Awarded the 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature for his poetic and novelistic work, particularly 'Doctor Zhivago.'
- Authored 'Doctor Zhivago,' a novel that became a global bestseller and was adapted into a classic Oscar-winning film.
- Published influential poetry collections like 'My Sister, Life,' which revolutionized Russian lyrical verse.
- Created highly regarded Russian translations of major works by Shakespeare, Goethe, and Verlaine.
Did You Know?
He initially trained as a composer before turning to philosophy and then literature.
His father was a prominent Post-Impressionist painter and his mother was a concert pianist.
The CIA secretly helped publish the first Russian-language edition of 'Doctor Zhivago' to use it as propaganda.
He is buried at Peredelkino, the writers' village outside Moscow where he wrote much of 'Doctor Zhivago.'
“What is laid down, ordered, factual is never enough to embrace the whole truth: life always spills over the rim of every cup.”
