The 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded the Soviet-Russian author Boris Pasternak (1890–1960) "for his important achievement both in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic tradition." He is the second Russian-language writer to be awarded with such honor.
Pasternak first accepted the prize honour, but was then pressured by the Soviet Union authorities to decline the prize. In 1988, Pasternak's son accepted the prize on his behalf.
Laureate
Boris Pasternak's modernist-leaning poetry first came to light in the 1910s and 1920s, when he published collections of poems such as Sestra moya—zhizn ("My Sister, Life", 1922) and Vtoroe rozhdenie ("A Second Birth", 1932). He began to emphasize social issues more and use clearer, simpler language in the 1930s. The existential is another theme in Pasternak's writings, covering nature, life, humanity, and love. The renowned 1957 novel Doctor Zhivago, which takes place between the socialist revolution of 1905 and World War II, demonstrates this.Boris Pasternak – Facts nobelprize.org
Deliberations Nominations Pasternak earned 9 nominations in total. He was first introduced for the Nobel Prize in 1946 by English literary critic Maurice Bowra. In 1958, after receiving three recommendations from Renato Poggioli, Harry Levin and Ernest Simmons, he was eventually awarded thereafter.Nomination archive – Boris Pasternak nobelprize.org
In total, the Nobel Committee for Literature received 70 nominations for 42 authors such as Riccardo Bacchelli, Robert Frost, Graham Greene, André Malraux, Ramón Menéndez Pidal, Alberto Moravia, Jean-Paul Sartre (awarded in 1964), Ignazio Silone, John Steinbeck (awarded in 1962), Giuseppe Ungaretti and Thornton Wilder. Seventeen of the nominees were newly nominated namely Ivo Andrić (awarded in 1961), Fernand Baldensperger, Elizabeth Bowen, Maurice Bowra, James Gould Cozzens, John Hersey, Miroslav Krleža, Junzaburō Nishiwaki, John Cowper Powys, Salvatore Quasimodo (awarded in 1959), Rudolf Alexander Schröder, Georges Simenon, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Lionel Trilling, Elio Vittorini, Robert Penn Warren and Tennessee Williams. There were only five women authors nominated: Karen Blixen, Edith Sitwell, Elizabeth Bowen, Gertrud von le Fort and Marie Under.Nomination archive – 1958 nobelprize.org
The authors Eleanor Hallowell Abbott, Zoe Akins, Mary Ritter Beard, Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, Til Brugman, James Branch Cabell, Rachel Crothers, Anurupa Debi, Lionel Giles, Feodor Gladkov, Michael Joseph, Henry Kuttner, Cyril M. Kornbluth, Irene Lisboa, Dorothy Macardle, Rose Macaulay, George Edward Moore, George Jean Nathan, Seumas O'Sullivan, Elliot Paul, Máiréad "Peig" Sayers, Robert W. Service, John Collings Squire, Marie Stopes, Ralph Waldo Trine, Ethel Turner, Alfred Weber, and Geoffrey Willans died in 1958 without having been nominated for the award. The French literary scholar Fernand Baldensperger died before the only chance to be rewarded.
Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s) 1 Ivo Andrić (1892–1975) novel, short story, poetry Association of Writers of Yugoslavia 2 Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985) novel, drama, essays Hans Nilsson-Ehle (1910–1983) 3 Fernand Baldensperger (1871–1958) essays, literary criticism, poetry Alan Carey Taylor (1905–1975) 4 Karen Blixen (1885–1962) novel, short story, memoir Elias Wessén (1889–1981) 5 Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) novel, short story, essays Roman Jakobson (1896–1982) 6 Maurice Bowra (1898–1971) history, essays, literary criticism, poetry Ernest Ludwig Stahl (1902–1992) 7 Martin Buber (1878–1965) philosophy Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) 8 James Gould Cozzens (1903–1978) novel Gordon S. Haight (1901–1985) 9 Gonzague de Reynold (1880–1970) history, essays, biography, memoir Pierre-Henri Simon (1903–1972) 10 Robert Frost (1874–1963) poetry, drama 11 Graham Greene (1904–1991) novel, short story, autobiography, essays Kristian Smidt (1916–2013) 12 John Hersey (1914–1993) novel, short story, essays Helen Rose Hull (1888–1971) 13 Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981) poetry, drama, short story, novel, essays Association of Writers of Yugoslavia 14 André Malraux (1901–1976) novel, essays, literary criticism 15 Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) philology, history 16 Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) novel, literary criticism, essays, drama 17 Junzaburō Nishiwaki (1894–1982) poetry, literary criticism Naoshirō Tsuji (1899–1979) 18 Boris Pasternak (1890–1960) poetry, novel, translation 19 Saint-John Perse (1887–1975) poetry 20 John Cowper Powys (1872–1963) philosophy, novel, literary criticism, poetry, essays, short story Enid Starkie (1897–1970) 21 Salvatore Quasimodo (1901–1968) poetry, translation 22 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975) philosophy, essays, law Nirmal Kumar Sidhanta (1929–2014) 23 Alfonso Reyes Ochoa (1889–1959) philosophy, essays, novel, poetry Angel del Río (1901–1962) 24 Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) poetry, essays, biography Henning Larsen (1889–1971) 25 Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) philosophy, novel, drama, essays, screenplay Kristian Smidt (1916–2013) 26 Rudolf Alexander Schröder (1878–1962) poetry, songwriting, translation 27 Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984) novel 28 Ignazio Silone (1900–1978) novel, short story, essays, drama 29 Georges Simenon (1903–1989) novel, short story, memoir 30 Edith Sitwell (1887–1964) poetry, essays, memoir Walter MacKellar (1927–2016) 31 John Steinbeck (1902–1968) novel, short story, screenplay Lennox Grey (1939–2013) 32 Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965) novel, short story Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) 33 Lionel Trilling (1905–1975) essays, literary criticism, short story Charles Warren Everett (1895–1983) 34 Marie Under (1883–1980) poetry William Kleesmann Matthews (1901–1958) 35 Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970) poetry, essays, literary criticism Howard R. Marraro (1897–1972) 36 Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) poetry, novel Harald Beyer (1891–1960) 37 Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971) novel, poetry, essays, translation Benjamin Hunningher (1903–1991) 38 Elio Vittorini (1908–1966) novel, short story Stuart Pratt Atkins (1914–2000) 39 Gertrud von Le Fort (1876–1971) novel, short story, essays, poetry 40 Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989) novel, poetry, essays, literary criticism René Wellek (1903–1995) 41 Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) drama, novel, short story 42 Tennessee Williams (1911–1983) drama, novel, screenplay, short story, poetry Napier Wilt (1896–1975)
Prize decision The main contenders for the prize in 1958 were the Danish author Karen Blixen, Italian novelist Alberto Moravia and Boris Pasternak. Pasternak's recently published novel Doctor Zhivago was decisive for the Nobel committee to unanimously propose Pasternak for the prize he was eventually awarded. The Nobel prize archives shows that no political aspects regarding Pasternak's candidacy were taken in consideration by the Nobel committee during the deliberations and that he was awarded purely on literary merits. According to The New York Times, the members of the Swedish Academy voted unanimously to award Pasternak.
Reactions The choice of Pasternak was heavily criticized by the communist Soviet Union authorities who pressured Pasternak to declined the prize. The prize decision and the Soviet reactions provoked a massive worldwide geopolitical debate,
The Swedish primer minister Tage Erlander condemned the Soviet reactions, but also criticized the Swedish Academy for their "wholly (or at least predominantly) political" reasons to award Pasternak.
References