Andrey Sakharov
ANDREI SAKHAROV
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov, an outstanding scientist and public figure, was born on the 21st of May, 1921, into a family of teachers. He graduated from Moscow University in 1942. In 1947 he defended his thesis for the degree of Candidate of Science. In 1953 he defended his Doctorate thesis and was elected member of the Academy of Sciences.
Sakharov played a decisive role in developing the Soviet hydrogen bomb. While working on the bomb he came to the conclusion that any atomic and nuclear weapons should be banned.
In 1966 he took part in his first human rights demonstration, a one-minute silent protest in Pushkin Square. A year later, he wrote a letter to Communist Party leader Leonid Brezhnev defending imprisoned dissidents.
He fought courageously for human rights in the former USSR and in 1975 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
His international repute as a scientist kept him out of jail, but in 1980 he was deprived of all his titles and orders and exiled to the city of Gorky. In Gorky he continued to work for peace, justice and human rights.
It was Michail Gorbachev who helped A. Sakharov to return to Moscow. He was given back all his titles and 3 years later he was elected deputy of the Supreme Soviet.
Sakharov died in 1989. He is remembered by everybody as an outstanding humanist, one of the best representatives of humankind who could teach and inspire and who foresaw the changes that are taking place now.