February 13, 1974 - Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Human Rights a Day

Dissident Nobel writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn expelled from USSR. Alexander Solzhenitsyn was born in Kislovodsk, Russia on December 11, 1918. There, he pursued a university education in physics and mathematics, even though his real passion was writing. When Soviet authorities discovered his writing criticizing Joseph Stalin, he was imprisoned, first for eight years, then for another two. He used his prison time to write, and much to the dismay of the Soviet leadership, managed to publish his works – sometimes within the USSR, but mostly in the West. His writing included The First Circle, The Cancer Ward and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. In 1970, when he won the Nobel prize in literature, he was widely condemned by his country’s leadership. On February 13, 1975, Soviet authorities expelled him from Russia, sent him to West Germany and stripped him of his Russian citizenship. A day later, he was charged with treason. He quickly moved to Norway, then Switzerland until 1976, after which he moved to Vermont in the United States. Solzhenitsyn was just as critical of the West’s capitalist system as he was of the Soviet state. When the USSR fell, Russia dropped its treason charges against Solzhenitsyn in 1991. He returned to his homeland and was eventually honoured. In 1997, Russia recognized his work by establishing the Solzhenitsyn prize for literature.

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