Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (February 10 [January 29 old system] 1890 – May 30, 1960) was a Russian writer and poet. He is best known in the West for his influential novel about the Soviet Union, Doctor Zhivago, but is best known in his homeland as a prominent poet. His collection My Sisterly Life is one of the most important collections of poetry written in Russian in the entire twentieth century.