Inspirational Quotes by Boris Pasternak (Russian Lyric Poet, Novelist)

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (1890–1960) was a Russian lyric poet, novelist, and translator. He was an outspoken critic of the Soviet regime and was persecuted for his political beliefs, yet he is considered one of the greatest Russian writers of the 20th century.

Born in Moscow, Pasternak was the son of Leonid Pasternak (1862–1945,) painter and illustrator of Leo Tolstoy’s works. Boris grew up in a highly intellectual and artistic family and received a broad education, studying music, philosophy, and literature. He studied law at the university, then musical composition under Aleksandr Scriabin, abandoning both for philosophy at Marburg, Germany. During World War I, he was a factory worker in the Urals. He was later employed in the library of the education ministry in Moscow after the Revolution.

In 1912, Pasternak began to publish his poetry, which gained recognition for its powerful imagery and themes. His first two books were poetry collections, A Twin in the Clouds (1914) and Over the Barriers (1917.) After the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, he decided that prose could better address the nation’s problems, so he started writing fiction. He published no original work 1934–43 because of his fear of censorship under the government of Joseph Stalin.

Pasternak’s best-known work is Doctor Zhivago (finished 1955.) Written over a period of several years in the 1940s, this novel is set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution and the ensuing Civil War, and it explores the themes of love, freedom, and the human spirit in the face of adversity. The Soviet government initially banned the novel, and it was only published abroad in 1957 after Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. It became an international best-seller, selling seven million copies worldwide. In 1989, his son finally accepted the Nobel Prize on his behalf.

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