On this day - 29 October

Boris Pasternak was a famous Russian writer whose literary credits include numerous poetry collections. His most famous novel was Dr Zhivago, which was rejected for publication in the Soviet Union. The manuscript was smuggled into Italy for publication in Western Europe by an Italian journalist.

On October 29th 1958 he rejected the Nobel Prize for Literature which had been awarded to him. He did this as he knew leaving the Soviet Union to collect the award would prevent him from ever returning. In 1989, many years after the death of his father, Pasternak's son was able to collect the award on his father's behalf.