Talk:Boris Pasternak

Nobel Prize

Did Pasternak merely "decline to accept it", or was he prevented by the Soviet authorities from doing so? I always understood the latter was the case. JackofOz 00:34, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

He declined to accept because Khruschev's campaign at his systematic persecution implied that, once departing for Stockholm, he would be stripped of Soviet citizenship and would never be allowed to return home. Pasternak was old and, knowing that his end was near, chose to die in Russia rather then accept the prize and end his days abroad. --Ghirla | talk 01:08, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Thank you, Ghirla. Doesn't this need some reference in the article? From what you say, discretion was the better part of valour, but if political circumstances had been different, there would have been no reason for Pasternak to decline the award. He may have declined to accept it, but only in the face of undesirable consequences if he had done so. JackofOz 02:07, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes, that's exactly how I and other people in Russia interprete his reclusion. I'm not a native speaker, so I trust you would articulate the passage better than myself. --Ghirla | talk 08:07, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Thank you. I've made some changes to the article using your information. JackofOz 09:00, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Conversion of Pasternak's Father

This is mentioned as having a profound effect on Pasternak but the date of his father's conversion or Boris' age at the time of his father's conversion is not mentioned here, or in the WP article on Leonid. It would seem that the date of this occurence ought to be mentioned. Hi There 22:38, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Pasternak's father, Leonid Pasternak, did not convert in his lifetime. He himself states this in his reply to the famous article by Bialik (reprinted in almanac "Год за годом", Moscow, 1989). Documents on Boris Pasternak's circumcision in Jewish tradition and on his and his parents belonging to the Jewish faith (иудейское вероисповедание) at the time of his admission to Moscow University have been published more than a decade ago (originally in collection of documents "Лица" cf see details here, in Russian), then in two detailed biographies of Boris Pasternak (by Natalia Ivanova and by Dmitry Bykov). Letter by Boris Pasternak to his father from Marburg (1912), where he discusses the very impossibility of conversion from Jewish faith is widely known see here again, in Russian. --SimulacrumDP 16:30, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

This would seem to be in conflict with plenty of secondary sources available in English (a quick search turns up http://www.swarthmore.edu/Humanities/sforres1/alum-readings/2003/past.html, as well as a few encyclopedia entries). Obviously, these English-language sources may be simply unreliable, and we may be able to ascertain this; however, there is a conflict here that has to be resolved.

At the end, this may be far from a black-and-white issue, but that is a different matter than verifiability. Feketekave (talk) 21:49, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

After seeing this argument, I conclude that SimulacrumDP is probably right. If he (or she) is saying that Boris Pasternak was raised as a Jew (Judaist), at least up until the time that BP was admitted into Moscow University, then the idea that his father converted to Christianity is inaccurate. And I believe this, as after Boris Pasternak's birth, Leonid continued to paint Russian Jews (famous ones, of course). At least from the time of Alexander I or Alexander II, I believe that practicing Jews were allowed to live in cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg. I'm very curious if there's any documentation of LP's supposed conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy, or of BP's supposed baptism into the Russian Orthodox Church. If anyone wishes to find them, I bid them lots of good luck. Marcus2 (talk) 22:34, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

I am completely at a loss as to how the fact that Pasternak's father did not ask for Aryan certificates from his portrait subjects has anything to do with the matter. It would also be interesting to see any solid evidence for what religion, if any, was practiced at Pasternak's childhood home. Feketekave (talk) 21:05, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

SimulacrumDP might have some solid evidence, but unfortunately, the user is inactive! Marcus2 (talk) 23:21, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

Birthdate

There is one confusion here:

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (January 29 [O.S. February 10] 1890...

It's right that he was born Jan 29 (old style), i.e. Feb 10 (Gregorian). Avia 08:02, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Contradicts entry on Doctor Zhivago regarding publication date in Russia

This entry and the one specifically on Doctor Zhivago offer conflicting dates for the eventual publication of the book in Russia. They differ by a year. Anyone know? Fitzhugh 05:42, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

• It was published in Novy Mir magazine starting from the January 1988, the announcement of intended publications were made in 1987 and, naturally, the censorship agreement was obtained in 1987, thus, the confusion. I have changed the date to 1988 Alex Bakharev 01:29, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Best English translation of Zhivago?

Any recommendations? The Harvill one I've got is awful. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.98.144.27 (talk) 23:19, 27 April 2007 (UTC).

Vandalism

Someone has vandalized this page recently. They replaced Russian/Soviet with France. I made some corrections but one France remains and I am not sure if it is correct or not. Help? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.231.71.63 (talk) 01:56, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

• Obviously, not. Fixed Alex Bakharev (talk) 04:28, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

Leon Pasternak

Do we really need the phrase:

His cousin, Polish poet Leon Pasternak was not so lucky. As a result of his political activities in Poland — writing satirical verses for socialist revolutionary periodicals - he was imprisoned in 1934 in the Bereza Kartuska detention camp.

Was the fate of his cousin so important for Boris Paternak? Alex Bakharev (talk) 04:28, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

Legacy Section

1. The word Pasternak in Russian meaning parsnip has nothing to do with Boris Pasternak.

2. I believe that Pasternak had a more important legacy than a verse of his being used in some song and an asteroid being named after him. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.163.66.166 (talk) 21:05, 29 March 2010 (UTC)

Copyright problem

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Ethnicity

Under ethnicity it says russian, which is a nationality. Should this not be changed to either represent his ethnicity or change the title ethnicity to nationality? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.95.114.167 (talk) 14:46, 2 June 2011 (UTC)

Pasternak's Ethnicity was Jewish not Russian he was not an ethnic Russian. Jewish was regarded as an ethnicity in the Soviet Union.

List of works

OK, where is it? --Gergyl (talk) 22:44, 7 July 2011 (UTC)