Boris Pasternak was not out of the way, and was one whom Stalin might easily have chosen to destroy. He had never conformed to the socialist-realist model, nor indeed before Stalin's era had he fitted into the prevailing orthodoxy. He was an idealist, an individualist; his autobiographical work discussed pre-revolutionary influences: many people died for less. Yet, as legend has it, Stalin is supposed to have instructed his henchmen to "leave that cloud-dweller alone". --- BTW rumor has it that this was because Paternak was sleeping with Beria's wife.