How did Boris Pasternak come to decline the Nobel Prize in Literature?

Boris Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958, primarily for his novel Doctor Zhivago. However, the book was rejected by Soviet authorities, who accused it of being libelous toward the October Revolution and the Soviet state.12

Following the announcement of the prize, Pasternak faced an intense campaign of state-sponsored abuse in the Soviet Union. He was expelled from the Union of Soviet Writers, which deprived him of his livelihood, and public calls were made for his deportation. To avoid exile from his homeland—which he stated would be equivalent to death—and to mitigate the severe political pressure he and his family were under, Pasternak felt compelled to decline the honor.12