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Title: Pasternak family papers
Date (inclusive): 1877-2013
Collection Number: 96063
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In Russian, English, German, French, and Italian
Physical Description:
160 manuscript boxes, 24 oversize boxes, 4 card file boxes, 1 oversize folder, 1 phonotape cassette, 1 videotape cassette,
1 motion picture reel, digital files
(108.4 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, diaries, memoirs, other writings, biographical data, printed matter, drawings, photographs, and other audiovisual
material relating to Russian art and literature, culture in the Soviet Union, and Russian émigré life. Includes papers of
Leonid and Rosalia Pasternak; their sons, the poet and novelist Boris Pasternak and architect and memoirist Aleksandr Pasternak;
their daughters, Josephine Pasternak and Lydia Pasternak Slater; and other family members.
Creator:
Pasternak, Boris Leonidovich, 1890-1960
Creator:
Pasternak family
Creator:
Pasternak, Leonid Osipovich, 1862-1945
Creator:
Pasternak, Zh. L. (Zhozefina Leonidovna)
Creator:
Slater, Lydia Pasternak
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Boxes 37 and 44-49 may not be used without permission of the Archivist. The remainder of the collection is open for research;
materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the
collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1996, 2004, and 2015.
[Identification of item], Pasternak family papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
In part, also available on microfilm (55 reels).
Scope and Content of the Material
The Pasternak family papers consist of material formerly in the possession of Josephine Pasternak and Lydia Pasternak Slater,
the sisters of the poet and Nobel Prize winner Boris Pasternak. This material has been arranged into series corresponding
to each member of the Pasternak family, including the poet's parents, Leonid and Rosalia, his sisters, Josephine Pasternak
and Lydia Pasternak Slater, and his younger brother, Aleksandr. All but Boris and Aleksandr emigrated to Germany and subsequently
to England after the 1917 Russian revolution.
The resulting intimate correspondence, dating from the 1920s and 1930s, between Boris Pasternak, his parents, and his sisters
is of primary importance. Also of interest are Josephine and Lydia's extensive correspondence with Pasternak literary scholars,
family, and friends. The bulk of the collection concerns the work of Leonid Pasternak, a famous painter, and Josephine's and
Lydia's efforts to preserve and publicize his legacy both in the Soviet Union and abroad. Included in this part are the artist's
drawings and sketches, as well as working material and manuscripts prepared for the publication of his memoirs. Also of interst
are Lydia Pasternak Slater's writings in Russian, German, and English and her translations.
Olga Freidenberg, a niece of Leonid Pasternak, kept diaries/memoirs that give a full account of her school and university
years, scholarly life, and the tragic siege of Leningrad, where she and her mother were living.
The smaller archive related to Rosalia Kaufman-Pasternak, a well-known classical pianist, gives interesting insights into
the world of Russian music in the years just before the revolution.
The collection also includes materials from Lydia's children and Boris's son, Evgenii Pasternak.
As a whole, the collection gives a valuable glimpse into the artistic and cultural life of Russia from the 1880s to the late
1970s as seen in the life and work of a multi-faceted and talented family.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Russian literature
Audiotapes
Video tapes
Soviet Union -- Civilization
Soviet Union -- Emigration and immigration
Drawing
Art -- Russia