Why Was Pasternak Important?

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak, (born January 29 [February 10, New 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 the Soviet Union that he declined the honour.

What did Boris Pasternak do in 1957?

In 1957 Doktor Zhivago, Pasternak's only novel – except for the earlier “novel in verse”, Spektorsky (1926) – first appeared in an Italian translation and has been acclaimed by some critics as a successful attempt at combining lyrical-descriptive and epic-dramatic styles.

Was Pasternak a communist?

Pasternak was born in Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 to a family of artists and musicians, and unlike many of his family members and friends, he didn't flee when the Communists took over his country.