Boris PASTERNAK, his Italian publisher and “Doctor Zhivago”.

Boris PASTERNAK (1890-1960)

Autograph letter signed to Giannalisa Feltrinelli.

A page in-4°. Stamped and canceled autograph envelope.

[Moscow] May 29, 1959.

Rare letter from the Nobel Prize winner for literature, author of the novel Doctor Zhivago , writing his gratitude to the mother of Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, the courageous editor of the said work.

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“Dear Madam, I hasten to express my gratitude to you for the joy that your lively letter has given me as well as showing you my infinite esteem. Your permission to make me dream of a future meeting with you does me a real honor, but it will not be given to me to take advantage of your favor, I do not share your hope. I cut my letter there so as not to make it heavy for the post and so that it comes to you as soon as possible. Tell your son my deep gratitude. Respectfully yours. B.Pasternak. »

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Although he had begun writing Doctor Zhivago in 1910, Pasternak did not complete his masterpiece until 1955. The following year, he submitted his manuscript to the Soviet newspaper Novi Mir , which firmly rejected it given anti-social positions. Soviet systems developed by the author.

At the instigation of the Italian publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, the manuscript was smuggled to Milan and published in 1957 by his publishing house. In the midst of the Cold War, the CIA favored copies, translations, and distribution in Europe of Pasternak's novel.

The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to the Russian writer on October 23, 1958. Threatened by the Soviet government, Pasternak decided not to go to Sweden to receive his prize. He died two years later, on May 30, 1960, in absolute poverty.

Twenty-five years after his death, Doctor Zhivago , a literary masterpiece of the 20th century, appeared in the Soviet Union in 1985, thanks to perestroika and the Soviet desire for openness initiated by Gorbachev.