Olga Ivinskaya
Olga Ivinskaya | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native name | Ольга Всеволодовна Ивинская |
| Born | June 16, 1912 Tambov |
| Died | September 8, 1995 (aged 83) Moscow |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | Russian |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Spouse |
|
| Partner | Boris Pasternak |
| Children |
|
Olga Vsevolodovna Ivinskaya (Russian: Ольга Всеволодовна Ивинская; June 16, 1912, Tambov – September 8, 1995, Moscow) was a Soviet poet and writer. She was friend and lover of Nobel Prize-winning writer Boris Pasternak during the last 13 years of his life and the inspiration for the character of Lara in his novel Doctor Zhivago (1957).
Early life[edit]
Ivinskaya, of German-Polish descent, was born in Tambov 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 magazines. 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 Emelianov in 1936, who hanged himself in 1939, having one daughter, Irina Emelianova; the second time in 1941 to Alexander Vinogradov (later killed in the war), producing one son, Dmitry Vinogradov.[1]
Relationship with Pasternak[edit]
She met Boris Pasternak in October 1946, in the editorial office of Novy Mir, where she was in charge of the new authors department.[1] She was romantically involved with him until his death, although he refused to leave his wife.[2] 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.[1]
Ivinskaya 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, to "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 meters, mostly ternary ones. You may allow yourself to use assonances."[3] Later, while collaborating with him on a translation of the Czech language poet Vítězslav Nezval, 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."[4]
Pasternak acknowledged Ivinskaya as the inspiration for Doctor Zhivago's heroine Lara.[2][5] Many poems by Yuri Zhivago in the novel were addressed by Pasternak to Ivinskaya.
In October 1949,[6][7][8][9] Ivinskaya was arrested as "an accomplice to the spy"[1] and in July 1950[10] was sentenced by the Special Council of the NKVD to five years in the Gulag.[1] That was seen as an attempt to press Pasternak to give up writings critical of the Soviet system.[5] In a 1958 letter to a friend in West Germany, Pasternak 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."[11]
At that time of her arrest, Ivinskaya was pregnant by Pasternak and miscarried. She was released in 1953 after Stalin's death.[5] Doctor Zhivago was published in Italy in 1957 by Feltrinelli, with Ivinskaya conducting all negotiations on Pasternak's behalf.[1]
Ivinskaya was one of nine "prisoners of conscience" featured in Persecution 1961, a book by Peter Benenson that helped launch Amnesty International. In it, Benenson lauded her for refusing to cooperate with authorities and for willingly suffering to protect Pasternak.[12] However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the opening of Soviet archives, some sources suggested that, like most torture victims, she had been induced to cooperate with the KGB.[13] - New York Times mentions "Moskovsky Komsomolets" as a source.
Final years[edit]
After Pasternak's death in 1960, Ivinskaya was arrested for the second time, with her daughter, Irina Emelianova. 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, Irina after one year, in 1962, and Ivinskaya in 1964.[1] She served four years of an eight-year sentence, apparently to punish her for the relationship.[5] In 1978, her memoirs were published in Paris in Russian and were translated in English under the title A Captive of Time.
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 Supreme Court of Russia ended up ruling against her on the ground that "there was no proof of ownership" and "papers should remain in the state archive".[1] She died in 1995 from cancer.[5] A reporter on NTV compared 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 Duncan, so Pasternak would not be Pasternak without Olga Ivinskaya, who was his inspiration for 'Doctor Zhivago.' ".[5] Her daughter, Irina Emelianova, who emigrated to France in 1985, published a book of memories of her mother's affair with Pasternak.[14]
References[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h Vronskaya, Jeanne (September 12, 1995). "Obituary: Olga Ivinskaya". The Independent. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
- ^ a b "Olga Ivinskaya; Inspiration for 'Dr. Zhivago's' Lara". Los Angeles Times. September 16, 1995. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
- ^ Ivinskaya 1978, pp. 28–29.
- ^ Ivinskaya 1978, p. 29.
- ^ a b c d e f "Olga Ivinskaya, 83, Pasternak Muse for 'Zhivago'". Obituaries. The New York Times. September 12, 1995. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
- ^ Batuyev, Valery (December 12, 1996). "Так грустно почему-то..." Ogoniok (in Russian). No. 49.
- ^ "Ольга Ивинская" (in Russian). Archived from the original on March 5, 2016.
- ^ "Ивинская и Пастернак: Любовь длинною в жизнь". personallife.ru (in Russian).
- ^ Ivanova, Natalya (2013). Борис Пастернак. Времена жизни (in Russian). Litres. ISBN 9785425090034.
- ^ "Жертвы политического террора в СССР". memo.ru. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
- ^ Ivinskaya 1978, p. 109.
- ^ Peter Benenson, Persecution 1961 (London: Penguin, 1961), 70-78.
- ^ “Model for Dr. Zhivago’s Lara Betrayed Pasternak to K.G.B.,” New York Times, November 27, 1997
- ^ Emélianova, Irina (2000). Légendes de la rue Potapov. Paris: Fayard.
Bibliography[edit]
- Ivinskaya, Olga (1978). A Captive of Time: My Years with Pasternak. Collins and Harvill Press. ISBN 0-00-262847-3.
- Mancosu, Paolo (2019). Moscow has Ears Everywhere: New Investigations on Pasternak and Ivinskaya. Hoover Press, Stanford. ISBN 978-0-8179-2244-3.
Further reading[edit]
- Pasternak, Anna (2017). Lara. New York, New York, USA: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-06-243934-5.
External links[edit]
- Autumn on YouTube, poem by Pasternak about his love, performed as song by Larisa Novoseltseva
===
A Captive of Time: My Years with Pasternak Hardcover – January 1, 1978
by Olga Ivinskaya (Author), Max Hayward (Translator)
3.8 out of 5 stars 11 ratings
3.7 on Goodreads
32 ratings
https://archive.org/details/captiveoftimemyy0000ivin
488 pages
Lara: The Untold Love Story and the Inspiration for Doctor Zhivago
Anna Pasternak
4.5 out of 5 stars 285
Paperback
$16.99$16.99$8.78 shipping
Only 11 left in stock (more on the way).
Safe Conduct: An Autobiography and Other Writings
Boris Pasternak
3.9 out of 5 stars 10
Paperback
Product details
Publisher : Doubleday; 1st edition (January 1, 1978)
Language : English
Hardcover : 488 pages
ISBN-10 : 0002628473
ISBN-13 : 978-0002628471
Item Weight : 1 poundsBest Sellers Rank: #3,891,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)Customer Reviews:
3.8 out of 5 stars 11 ratings
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LFL8812
1.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointed & Not What I ExpectedReviewed in the United States on February 13, 2018
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I've read about half of this & skimmed thru the rest but I don't think I can finish it. I read & loved Boris Pasternak's ' Lara' b/c the movie Dr Zhivago is one of my all time favorites. I didn't know it was largely autobiographical so when I saw his book offered on bookbub.com I got it & read it x2. When I saw Olga's book, the person on whom his character Lara is based, I got it too, hoping to read about her relationship w/ him from her viewpoint but I was disappointed. She primarily talks about poetry, which I don't like, & what other writers & Boris thought about each other. I had never heard of most of them & don't care what they thought anyway. She also talks about his struggle w/ the Russian govt & other writers about writing his book, Dr Zhivago, but I didn't need that, either, since his book went into a lot of that & in much more interesting detail. She did talk about her time being imprisoned b/c of her relationship w/ him but he went into that also. I have bought the book, Dr Zhivago, after reading his 'Lara' which I never thought I would tackle but decided I would give it a try since I found his book 'Lara' so good. I've seen the movie so many times I won't be put off by the numerous long Russian names so maybe it won't be too difficult to read.
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Nancy
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a love story, but it's also about a way of ...Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2018
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What a powerful book. It is written in and of a different era, but "seeing" life in the time of Stalin from the inside is illuminating. This is a love story, but it's also about a way of life that, in my opinion, is important for us to understand. Of the many, many books I've read, this is one of only two books I would categorize as important. Not an easy read, but definitely worth the time and effort to read it.
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Joseph Centorino
5.0 out of 5 stars A literary and historical gem!Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2016
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Much more than a rich literary memoir-a painful but illuminating inside view of life in the USSR during its darkest days.
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Elizabeth C. Tyler
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United States on August 26, 2017
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Love it!
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1.0 out of 5 stars Read without breathing.Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2016
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The book reeks of cigarette smoke, very unpleasant to read.
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Rita Barros
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United States on November 23, 2016
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great book
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