Olga Ivinskaya
Encyclopedia
Olga Vsevolodovna Ivinskaya (June 16, 1912, Tambov
– September 8, 1995, Moscow
) was the mistress of Boris Pasternak
(a Nobel Prize-winning Russian and Soviet poet) and the inspiration for the character of Lara in Pasternak's novel, Dr. Zhivago.
to a provincial high school teacher. In 1915, the family moved to Moscow
. After graduating from the Editorial Workers Institute in Moscow in 1936, she worked as an editor
at various literary magazine
s. She was an admirer of Pasternak since her adolescence, attending literary gatherings to listen to his poetry. She married twice: the first time to Ivan Yemelianov in 1936, who hanged himself in 1939, having one daughter, Lyudmila Yemelianova; the second time in 1941 to Alexander Vinogradov (later killed in the war), producing one son, Dmitry Vinogradov.
, where she was in charge of the new authors department. She was romantically involved with him until his death, although he refused to leave his wife. Early in 1948, he asked her to leave Novy Mir, as her position there was getting more difficult because of their relationship. She took up a role as his secretary
instead.
Ivinskaya also collaborated closely with Pasternak on translating poetry from foreign languages into Russian. While she was translating the Bengali language
poet Rabindranath Tagore
, Pasternak advised her,
Later, while collaborating with him on a translation of the Czech language
poet Vítězslav Nezval
, Pasternak told Ivinskaya,
Pasternak acknowledged Ivinskaya as the inspiration for Dr. Zhivagos heroine Lara. In July 1950, she was arrested as "an accomplice to the spy" and sentenced to five years in the GULAG
.
That was seen as an attempt to press Pasternak to give up writings critical of the Soviet system. Pasternak, however, had his own opinion about the reasons for Ivinskaya's arrest. In a 1958 letter to a friend in West Germany
, he wrote, "She was put in jail on my account, as the person considered by the secret police to be closest to me, and they hoped that by means of a grueling interrogation and threats they could extract enough evidence from her to put me on trial. I owe my life and the fact that they did not touch me in those years to her heroism and endurance."
At that time of her arrest, Ivinskaya was pregnant by Pasternak and miscarried
. She was released in 1953 after Stalin's death. The book was published in Italy in 1957 by Feltrinelli, with Ivinskaya conducting all negotiations on Pasternak's behalf.
and were translated in English under the title A Captive of Time.
Olga Ivinskaya was rehabilitated only under Gorbachev in 1988. All of Pasternak's letters to her and other manuscripts and documents had been seized by the KGB
during her last arrest. She spent several years in litigation trying to regain them. However, those were blocked by his daughter-in-law, Natalya. The Russian Supreme Court ended up ruling against her on the ground that "there was no proof of ownership" and "papers should remain in the state archive". She died in 1995 from cancer. A reporter on NTV compared Mrs. Ivinskaya's role to that of other famous muses for Russian writers: "As Pushkin would not be complete without Anna Kern, and Yesenin would be nothing without Isadora, so Pasternak would not be Pasternak without Olga Ivinskaya, who was his inspiration for 'Doctor Zhivago.' ".
Tambov
Tambov is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers southeast of Moscow...
– September 8, 1995, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) was the mistress of Boris Pasternak
Boris Pasternak
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian language poet, novelist, and literary translator. In his native Russia, Pasternak's anthology My Sister Life, is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language...
(a Nobel Prize-winning Russian and Soviet poet) and the inspiration for the character of Lara in Pasternak's novel, Dr. Zhivago.
Early life
Ivinskaya, partly of German-Polish descent, was born in TambovTambov
Tambov is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers southeast of Moscow...
to a provincial high school teacher. In 1915, the family moved to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. After graduating from the Editorial Workers Institute in Moscow in 1936, she worked as an editor
Editor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...
at various literary magazine
Literary magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
s. She was an admirer of Pasternak since her adolescence, attending literary gatherings to listen to his poetry. She married twice: the first time to Ivan Yemelianov in 1936, who hanged himself in 1939, having one daughter, Lyudmila Yemelianova; the second time in 1941 to Alexander Vinogradov (later killed in the war), producing one son, Dmitry Vinogradov.
Relationship with Pasternak
She met Boris Pasternak in October 1946, in the editorial office of Novy MirNovy Mir
Novy Mir is a Russian language literary magazine that has been published in Moscow since January 1925. It was supposed to be modelled on the popular pre-Soviet literary magazine Mir Bozhy , which was published from 1892 to 1906, and its follow-up, Sovremenny Mir , which was published 1906-1917...
, where she was in charge of the new authors department. She was romantically involved with him until his death, although he refused to leave his wife. Early in 1948, he asked her to leave Novy Mir, as her position there was getting more difficult because of their relationship. She took up a role as his secretary
Secretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
instead.
Ivinskaya also collaborated closely with Pasternak on translating poetry from foreign languages into Russian. While she was translating the Bengali language
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
poet Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
, Pasternak advised her,
"1) Bring out the theme of the poem, its subject matter, as clearly as possible; 2) tighten up the fluid, non-European form by rhyming internally, not at the end of the lines; 3) use loose, irregular meterMeter (poetry)In poetry, metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study of metres and forms of versification is known as prosody...
s, mostly ternary ones. You may allow yourself to use assonanceAssonanceAssonance is the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or sentences, and together with alliteration and consonance serves as one of the building blocks of verse. For example, in the phrase "Do you like blue?", the is repeated within the sentence and is...
s."
Later, while collaborating with him on a translation of the Czech language
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
poet Vítězslav Nezval
Vítezslav Nezval
Vítězslav Nezval was one of the most prolific avant-garde Czech writers in the first half of the twentieth century and a co-founder of the Surrealist movement in Czechoslovakia....
, Pasternak told Ivinskaya,
"Use the literal translation only for the meaning, but do not borrow words as they stand from it: they are absurd and not always comprehensible. Don't translate everything, only what you can manage, and by this means try to make the translation more precise than the original -- an absolute necessity in the case of such a confused, slipshod piece of work."
Pasternak acknowledged Ivinskaya as the inspiration for Dr. Zhivagos heroine Lara. In July 1950, she was arrested as "an accomplice to the spy" and sentenced to five years in the GULAG
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
.
That was seen as an attempt to press Pasternak to give up writings critical of the Soviet system. Pasternak, however, had his own opinion about the reasons for Ivinskaya's arrest. In a 1958 letter to a friend in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, he wrote, "She was put in jail on my account, as the person considered by the secret police to be closest to me, and they hoped that by means of a grueling interrogation and threats they could extract enough evidence from her to put me on trial. I owe my life and the fact that they did not touch me in those years to her heroism and endurance."
At that time of her arrest, Ivinskaya was pregnant by Pasternak and miscarried
Miscarriage
Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
. She was released in 1953 after Stalin's death. The book was published in Italy in 1957 by Feltrinelli, with Ivinskaya conducting all negotiations on Pasternak's behalf.
Final years
After Pasternak's death in 1960, Ivinskaya was arrested for the second time, with her daughter. She was accused of being Pasternak's link with Western publishers in dealing in hard currency for Doctor Zhivago. The Soviet government quietly released them, Lyudmila after one year, in 1962, and Olga in 1964. She served four years of an eight-year sentence, apparently to punish her for the relationship. In 1978, her memoirs were published in Paris in RussianRussian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and were translated in English under the title A Captive of Time.
Olga Ivinskaya was rehabilitated only under Gorbachev in 1988. All of Pasternak's letters to her and other manuscripts and documents had been seized by the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
during her last arrest. She spent several years in litigation trying to regain them. However, those were blocked by his daughter-in-law, Natalya. The Russian Supreme Court ended up ruling against her on the ground that "there was no proof of ownership" and "papers should remain in the state archive". She died in 1995 from cancer. A reporter on NTV compared Mrs. Ivinskaya's role to that of other famous muses for Russian writers: "As Pushkin would not be complete without Anna Kern, and Yesenin would be nothing without Isadora, so Pasternak would not be Pasternak without Olga Ivinskaya, who was his inspiration for 'Doctor Zhivago.' ".