Boris Pasternak

Pasternak began his career as a poet, publishing his first book, My Sister, Life, in Berlin after it was composed in 1917. His translations of classical stage plays by notable authors like Goethe, Schiller, Calderón de la Barca, and Shakespeare were well-received by Russian audiences. As a novelist, he wrote Doctor Zhivago, set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution of 1905 and the Second World War, although the novel was initially rejected for publication in the USSR due to its content. Despite this, the manuscript was smuggled out of the country and eventually published abroad, sparking controversy.