25 years after Sakharov’s death, the world needs his ideas even more

Twenty-five years ago, on December 14, 1989, Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov died of a heart attack at the age of 68. Most definitely, he was the bravest and the most consistent accusers of the Soviet totalitarianism.

A nuclear physicist called “the father of the Soviet H-bomb,” Sakharov became deeply concerned about the real possibility of the “nuclear winter,” which would extinguish humankind. According to his own words, as a young man he believed that the USSR was basically a great country where the educational system was great and where everyone was “socially protected.” However, later in life he encountered the dark side of the Soviet system.

In 1968, Andrei Dmitrievich wrote an essay, titled, “Reflections on Progress, Peaceful Co-Existence, and Intellectual Freedom.” It was a very “benevolent,” peaceful narrative of Sakharov’s ideas about the future, particularly his belief in the “convergence” between the West and the Soviet block. He sent it to a number of Soviet newspapers, but it was completely ignored. Then he sent it to the Central Committee of the Communist Party with a plea to publish it, but again, he was ignored. By that time, his “Reflections” were circulating all over the USSR as typewritten copies, and, finally, they were published in the Netherlands and then in the USA. Sakharov was immediately removed from his position at a Soviet research center in physics.

He continued to work at home, concentrating on fundamental problems of the theory of physical processes, and also meeting with people who were critical to the abuse of human rights in the USSR. In 1970, he became a co-founder of the Committee of Human Rights in the USSR, back then completely illegal. By the end of the 1970’s, the Committee collected hundreds of volumes of information about violations of most basic human rights in the so-called “Socialist countries.” The Soviet media continued to malign Sakharov, picturing him as a traitor bribed by “Capitalists.” But Andrei Dmitrievich continued his struggle and, in 1975, received his Nobel Peace Prize.

When the Soviet Army invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, Sakharov openly and vehemently protested. In January 1980, he was arrested and forced into an internal exile to the city of Nizhniy Novgorod (back then, Gorky). He was banned from any contact with any person who had not been approved by the Soviet secret police (KGB). In 1984 and 1985, he went on hunger strikes, protesting against his life in captivity and against the decision of the Soviet government not to let his wife Yelena Boner travel abroad for badly needed heart surgery. Eventually, in 1986, Gorbachev allowed the Sakharovs to return to Moscow and Bonner to have her surgery in the USA.

In early 1989, Sakharov became a member of the new Soviet parliament, where he spoke many times in defense of human rights and freedoms. However, his health deteriorated, and at about 9 p.m. on December 14, 1898, Yelena Bonner found him in his study lying on the floor with a massive, fatal heart attack.  Memory Eternal to this unique humanist and fighter for human rights, for a better world!

An annual prize named after Sakharov, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament as a means to honor individuals or organisations who have dedicated their lives to the defense of human rights and freedom of thought. This year, the Euromaidan movement was honored to be nominated and became one of the three finalists for the Sakharov prize. The winner of the 2014 prize became Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist treating victims of gang rape in DR Congo.

A list of all the Sakharov prize laureates from Wikipedia: