The most prestigious literary prize in the world became the basis for the conflict between Boris Pasternak and the Soviet state. The inability to openly express his vision of events, to remain true to himself, and not to the existing political system, became a serious test for the writer.
Boris Pasternak - Nobel Prize Laureate
The Nobel Prize was awarded to the poet and prose writer B. L. Pasternak for the novel Doctor Zhivago in October 1958. The awarding ceremony for the novel, published in Italy, aroused the indignation of the party elite, members of the Union of Writers of the USSR and became the reason for the persecution of Pasternak. The poet's candidacy was repeatedly discussed in the Nobel Committee, but the final decision on the awarding of the prize was made only in 1958. The reaction of the Communist Party of the USSR to him was extremely negative.
The reasons for it were that initially Pasternak offered the manuscript of Doctor Zhivago, on which he had been working for more than 10 years, to the Novy Mir magazine. The editorial board recognized the novel as anti-Soviet. The writer was shocked by this assessment of the main work of his life and decided to publish it in Italy with the assistance of the publisher Gianjaco Feltrinelli.
On October 23, 1958, a representative of the Nobel Committee telegrammed Pasternak about the award of the priz
Pasternak's response to the news that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature was a telegram: "Infinitely grateful, touched, proud, surprised, embarrassed."
… On the same day, the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee adopted a resolution "On the Slanderous Novel of B. Pasternak", in which the recognition of Pasternak's talent was called "an act hostile to our country and an instrument of international reaction aimed at inciting the Cold War." Thus began the open persecution of the writer.
Reasons that led the writer to refuse the award
A few days later, the newspaper Pravda continued its attacks on the writer, publishing an editorial "Provocative sortie of international reaction" and Zaslavsky's feuilleton "The hype of reactionary propaganda around a literary weed." Then there was a publication dedicated to Soviet physicists who received the Nobel Prize, in which it was stated that the awarding of physicists was deserved, and the awarding of the prize in literature had a political connotation. The plays, the translator of which was Boris Leonidovich, were removed from the repertoires of the theaters, the Writers' Union announced the expulsion of Pasterna
For a writer in the USSR, losing his membership in the Writers' Union meant losing the right to publish his books and being doomed to death by starvation.
and a few days later the Moscow organization of the Union announced its demand to deprive the writer of Soviet citizenship.
Under the influence of these events, B. L. Pasternak made a decision to refuse the Nobel Prize in exchange for the opportunity to remain a citizen of the USSR. With his statement, he personally addressed N. S. Khrushchev, and this request was granted. The severe stress experienced by the writer had a detrimental effect on his health, and in 1960 Pasternak died.
