aware of his father’s artistry 16
memories of Boris 19
helps family survive 1918–19 winter 24
remains in Moscow during the Revolution 26
holidays with Boris in Irpen 38
with Boris in his final moments 240
Pasternak, Boris Leonidovich
birth of 18
family background 16–18
popularity of xv–xvi, xxiii
study at Peredelkino xxiv–xxv
meets and falls in love with Olga 1–4, 9–11, 12–15, 56, 70
character and description xxv–xxvi, 2–3, 8, 35, 51, 54, 73, 136
gives public recitals 4, 7, 67, 68–72, 137
as a translator 4–5, 7, 37, 45, 82–3, 99–100, 137, 206, 225
as a poet xvi–xvii, 6, 19, 39–40, 41, 45–6, 49, 59–60, 63–4, 68, 97, 117, 120–2, 132–4, 136, 137, 138, 211–12, 220–2
work ethic 16
as accomplished pianist 19
disabled due to boyhood accident 20
journeys to St Petersburg after the February Revolution 23
distressed at the emigration of his family 25–7
attends anti-fascist writers’ congress in Paris 28, 29
health of 28, 29–31, 43, 123, 124–6, 166–9, 183, 184, 186, 223, 233, 235
visits his family in Berlin 29–30
learns of his mother’s death 31–2
lives emotional exile from his family 32–3
meets and marries Evgenia 34–7, 46–7
meets and marries Zinaida 37, 38–45
suicide bids 42, 197–9
Stalin orders him to be left in peace as ‘he’s a cloud dweller’ xx, 46, 52, 80, 98
attempts to help Osip Mandelstam 47–9
tensions and quarrels with Zinaida 47, 51, 53, 55, 58, 64
accepts apartment in Moscow and dacha in Peredelkino 49
outside the literary establishment 49–50
work recognised in the West 49
stays true to himself and loyal to his friends 51, 53
comments on the birth of Leonid 54–5
passionate affair with Olga xxv, 57–68, 77, 81, 129, 141–3, 216–18, 223, 225
quarrels with Olga 61, 74, 199, 219–20, 222–3
denounced both personally and in his work 66, 99
tries to end affair with Olga 75, 128–9
relationship with Irina xxii, 77–8, 111–12, 126, 172, 173
feels guilt at Olga’s arrest 89–90, 91, 100, 111
his penmanship likened to cranes flying over the page xxiii, 92, 109, 117, 118, 250
vigorously defended by Olga whilst she is being interrogated 92–8
learns of Olga’s pregnancy 108–9
dossier kept on 110–11
offered the Nobel Prize xxiv, 110, 185–93, 194–5, 199, 200
tears out every page in books he had written on 110
financially supports Olga’s family 111–12, 126
sends letters, poems and packages to Olga 117–20, 127–8, 167–8, 223–5, 234, 240
unable to leave Zinaida and marry Olga 135–6, 143–6, 218–19, 223
mail intercepted by the KGB 162
inundated with international correspondence 183–4, 213–15
expelled from the Writers’ Union 196
followed and spied upon by the KGB 196–7
attacked by Soviet authorities 200–3, 210–11, 215–16
discusses possibility of emigrating 201–2
supported by Western press 202–3
believes he is going to meet Khrushchev 208–10
asked to write open letter to the people 215–16
forced to borrow money from friends 225
begins writing a play 226–7
receives some of his royalties clandestinely 226, 231–2
visits the theatre with Olga and Irina 227–8
last New Year’s Eve with Olga 229
final happy months with Olga 230–4
sends Power of Attorney document to Feltrinelli naming Olga 232–4
gives Olga the manuscript for The Blind Beauty 234–5
final illness and death 235–43
funeral and burial xxiv, 243–9
posthumously given the Nobel Prize 256–7
works
Above the Barriers xvi, 23
‘August’ 241–2, 247
‘Ballade’ 39, 41
The Blind Beauty 226–7, 231, 234, 235, 249
The Childhood of Luvers 8
Collected Prose Works 92
An Essay in Autobiography 148
‘Explanation’ 63–4
‘A Fairy-Tale’ 132–4
Faust translation xxiii, 72, 83, 99–100
‘Hamlet’ (poem) 247
Hamlet translation 5, 7, 9, 99
Lieutenant Schmidt 211–12
‘Marburg’ 4
‘Mary Magdalene’ 97
Mary Stuart translation 166, 206, 225
My Sister Life xvi, xvii
‘The Nobel Prize’ 220–1
‘Parting’ 120–2
‘Requiem for a Lady Friend’ (translation) 37
Safe Conduct 36
Second Birth 39–40
Selected Works 99
‘Summer in Town’ 59–60
‘To a Friend’ 6
‘A Winter Night’ 68
Pasternak, Charles (nephew)
memories of his grandfather, Leonid 18
moves to England 31
comment on Zinaida 38
childhood memories of long arguments in the family 66
meets Feltrinelli and his third wife 159
Pasternak, Evgenia Vladimirovna Lure ‘Zhenia’ (1st wife) 14, 31
character and description 34, 38
meets and marries Boris 34–5
health of 35
pregnancy and birth of child 35–6
tensions within the marriage 35–6
dislike of Zinaida 39
looked after by the Pasternak family in Germany 43
renewed relationship with Boris 55
Pasternak, Evgeny Borisovich (son) 14
comment on his father’s writing 6
birth of 36
looked after by Pasternak family in Germany 43
relationship with Boris 55, 65–6
comment on Boris’s affair with Olga 80
sent to Ukraine for compulsory military service 162–3
visits his father in hospital 168
keeps Olga informed of Boris’s final illness 236
sits with Boris in his final hours 240
asked to look after Olga after Boris’s death 241
invited to Stockholm to accept Nobel Prize on behalf of Boris 256–7
Pasternak, Fedia (nephew) 38
Pasternak, Frederick (brother-in-law)
moves to Berlin 29
visited by Boris in Berlin 29–31
helps to look after Evgenia 43
receives letter from Boris concerning Doctor Zhivago 78–9, 163
Pasternak, Helen (niece) 31
Pasternak, Irina (sister-in-law) 38
Pasternak, Josephine (sister) 16
marries her cousin Frederick xvii
Virginia Woolf as her favourite author xxiv–xxv
recollections of childhood and family relationships 19, 26
moves to Berlin 26
final meeting with Boris 28, 29–31
moves to England 31
accompanies Boris on his walks round Berlin 35
supports Evgenia against Boris 35
helps to look after Evgenia 43
receives confessional letter from Boris 44
impassioned conversation about female beauty 69
receives letters from Boris 78–9, 100–1, 182, 216
visited by the Feltrinellis 159
receives manuscript of Doctor Zhivago 162, 163
asked to send Doctor Zhivago manuscript to George Katkov 177
lea
rns that Boris may receive the Nobel Prize 185–6
informed of Boris’s final illness 239
ashes buried in Oxford 241
Pasternak, Leonid (father)
gives good advice to Boris 6
love for his family and his profession 16–17
as post-impressionist painter 16, 17, 71
character and description 17, 18
Jewish family background 17–18
appreciates his wife’s career sacrifice 19
The Debutante 20
illustrates Tolstoy’s Resurrection 20–2, 71
draws pastel of Tolstoy on his deathbed 22
moves to Berlin 26
1920s as period of high productivity 27
moves to England 31
helps to look after Evgenia 43
death of 32
ashes buried in Oxford 241
Pasternak, Leonid (son) 14
birth of 54–5
marriage to Natasha 55
relationship with Boris 65–6
on holiday in Yalta 136
fails to get into Higher Technical Institute 162
visits his father in hospital 168
goes to the theatre with Boris and his mother 227
asked to look after Olga after Boris’s death 241
death of 256
Pasternak, Lydia see Slater, Lydia Pasternak
Pasternak, Natasha (daughter-in-law) 55
memories of Boris 66
believes Olga to be source of Boris’s decline 218
dislike of Olga 236
memories of Olga crying outside the Big House 240
comment on her husband’s death 256
Pasternak, Rosalia Isidovna (mother)
devoted to her family 17
accomplished concert pianist 18–19
character and description 19
helps to pack Leonid’s illustrations for Tolstoy 22
moves to Berlin 26
death of 31–6
ashes buried in Oxford 241
Pasternak, Zinaida Nikolaevna Neigaus (or Neuhaus) (2nd wife)
Boris’s feelings for 14–15
as early inspiration for Lara 30
marriage to Boris 30, 47
Pasternak’s interest and obsession in 37–45
character and description xxv, 38, 44, 55, 61, 73, 76, 145, 184
dislike of Evgenia 39
teenage affair with her cousin, Melitinsky 40, 43
torn by guilt at breakup of her marriage 41
spends happy time in Georgia 45
lives with Boris 46–7
renovates Boris’s Moscow apartment 46–7
strained relationship with Boris 47, 53–4, 55–6, 57–8, 143, 145–6
antipathy towards the Mandelstams 50
dislikes visitors at Peredelkino 50, 184
pregnancy and birth of son, Leonid 53–5
as inspiration for Tonya in Doctor Zhivago 62, 67, 74
learns of Boris’s affair with Olga 64, 73
unsupportive of Boris’s work 71
allows no one into Boris’s study 72
death of her sons 75–6
learns of Olga’s pregnancy 108
cares for Boris after his heart attack 123, 125
takes Leonid on holiday to Yalta 136
aware of Olga’s presence near Peredelkino 143, 144
dismayed at Doctor Zhivago being published outside Russia 155–6
speaks to Isaiah Berlin about Doctor Zhivago 162–3
visits Boris in hospital 168
finds Boris passed out on his bed 186
critical of the Nobel Prize 187
discusses possibility of family emigrating 201
blames Olga for Boris’s decline 218
takes Boris to visit Nina Tabidze 222
goes to the theatre with Boris and Leonid 227
looks after Boris in his final illness 237, 238, 239
refuses to let Olga see Boris in his final days 238, 240
Patch, Isaac 180
Peltier, Hélène 155, 162
Peredelkino xxiv, 43, 49, 50, 51, 54, 66, 70, 71, 81, 98, 120, 123, 124, 125, 136, 140, 147, 151, 157, 159, 162, 163, 169, 188, 201, 202, 204, 225, 243
Peredelkino Writers’ Club 206, 220
Petrograd see St Petersburg
Petrovna, Lidia 102
Piddubnaya, Zinaida 1, 3
Pilnyak, Boris 5, 51
Mahogany 6
poem given to 6
Polikarpov, Dmitrii
concerned at possible expurgated version of Doctor Zhivago 157
meets with Olga 161, 172–3, 198, 199–200, 207–11
demands that Boris ask Feltrinelli for the return of the manuscript 170–1
kept up to date concerning publication of Doctor Zhivago 182
orders Fedin to tell Boris to refuse the Nobel Prize 186
comment on Boris’s letter to the Writers’ Union 196
removes Boris’s postal ban 213
asks Boris to write open letter to the people 215–16
refuses to let Boris receive requests from foreign correspondents 217
orders Olga to return to Boris after poem is published in England 220
tells Boris to leave when Macmillan visits Moscow 222
Popova, Liusia 245
close friend of Boris and Olga 15, 76
helps to rush Olga to hospital 77
comforts Boris when he learns of Olga’s imprisonment 84
learns of Olga’s pregnancy 108
advises Boris not to take love letters to Peredelkino 109
Potma 253, 255
Potma labour camps 107
Pravda 190, 201, 215
Prokofiev, Sergei 27
Proust, Marcel 36, 223
Proyart, Jacqueline de 155, 221, 226, 252
Pushkin, Alexander 45
Rachmaninoff, Sergei 16
Radio Moscow 150, 164, 189
Rassokhina, Marina 237–9
Rausen Brothers 180
Reds see Bolsheviks
Reich, Zinaida 7
Reznikov, Daniil 160
Ridder, Peter de 181
Rilke, Rainer Maria 27, 37
‘Requiem for a Lady Friend’ 37
River Irpen 38
River Kama 23
River Neva 190
River Setourne 143
Rodin, Auguste, The Thinker 182
Rome 151
Roncalli, Cardinal Angelo (Pope John XXIII) 189
Rubinstein, Anton 16
Ruge, Gerd 226
Russell, Bertrand 203, 252
St Petersburg (formerly Petrograd) 23–4
St Petersburg Conservatory 16
Samolet magazine 12
Schewe, Heinze 226, 232, 233, 245
Schiller, Friedrich, Mary Stuart 166, 183, 206, 225
Schlesinger, Arthur Jr 252
Schliersee, Bavaria 19
Schoenthal, Inge 159
Schweitzer, Renate 111
Scriabin, Alexander 16, 19
Sedov, Alexandra 89
Semichastny, Vladimir 200–1, 203, 204
Semionov, Anatoli Sergeyevich 94–8, 102, 105, 108–9
Shakespeare, William 2, 4–5
Hamlet 5, 7, 9, 99
Shalamov, Varlam 138, 147–8
Sharif, Omar xxi
Sholokhov, Mikhail 214
Siberia 41, 253, 254
Simonov, Konstantin 1, 165
Slater, Eliot 31
Slater, Lydia Pasternak (sister)
comment on Boris’s poems xvi–xvii
aware of her father’s artistry 16
distressed at mother’s career sacrifice 19
moves to Berlin 26
marriage and children 31
helps to look after Evgenia 43
receives letters from Boris concerning Doctor Zhivago 78–9, 173–4, 182
unable to visit Boris in Russia 129
receives manuscript of Doctor Zhivago 162, 163
/>
asked to send Doctor Zhivago manuscript to George Katkov 177
comment on the love and gratitude shown to Boris 214
comment on Boris’s new play 226
informed of Boris’s final illness 239–40
ashes buried in Oxford 241
SMERSH (Death to Spies) 91
Smolny Institute for girls 40
Snow, C. P. 203
Society of Authors (British) 203
Soloviev, Vladimir 168
Soviet Radio 151
Soviet Writers’ Union 1, 49, 51, 53, 99, 148, 157, 169–70, 183, 186, 189, 190, 194–6, 199–200, 203, 208, 214, 221–2, 246, 252, 256
First Congress of xx, 49
Spender, Stephen 203
Stalin, Joseph
reign of terror xix, 29
oppressive censorship under 32
funeral of 37
orders Pasternak to be left in peace xx, 46
reconsiders Mandelstam’s case 48
believes Pasternak to be ‘poet-seer’ 52
death of 54, 126, 151, 152
Stalin, Nadya Alliluyeva 52
Starostin, Anatoli 166
Steinbeck, John 214
Stepanovich, Sergei 188
Sukhinichi 136
Sukhumi 172
Sunday Telegraph 251–2
Sunday Times 216
Surkov, Alexei xx, 99, 148, 170–1, 172–3, 250, 252
Swedish Academy 200, 214, 256–7
Swinburne, Algernon 23
Tabidze, Nina 54, 90, 124–5, 176, 186, 222, 236
Tabidze, Nita 54
Tabidze, Titsian 45, 50, 54, 110
Taishet labour camp 253–4
Tarasenkov, Anatoly 51
Tarasova, Alla 166
Tatarstan, Republic of 23
Tbilisi 45, 222, 223
Thomas, Dylan xxiv
Tikhiye Gory 23
Tikunov, Vadim 250–1
Tolstaya-Esenina, Sofia Andreyevna 22, 70
Tolstoy, Leo
Resurrection 20–2, 71, 166
War and Peace 20–1
Tolstoy, Leo xxiv, 16, 22, 70, 138, 244
Trotsky, Leon 89
Tsvetaeva, Marina 64
Twain, Mark 193
Ukraine 163
Union of Georgian Writers 50
Uzkoye sanatorium 168
Vania (friend of Irina) 192
Vatican 181, 182
Venice 151
Vinogradov, Alexander 11–12
Vinogradov, Dimitri ‘Mitia’ 9, 57
birth of 12
relationship with Boris 66
relationship with his mother, Olga 74–5
reaction to MGB in his mother’s flat 83
comforted after his mother’s arrest 85
looked after by his grandparents 86
spends summer in Sukhinichi with great aunt 136
discusses Boris’s letter to the Writers’ Union 194–5
shocked at Boris’s wish to commit suicide 197–8
brings smuggled money to Boris 231–2
takes letter to Nina Tabidze from his mother 236
Lara Page 35
