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Moscow, he studied theoretical physics at the
Lebedev Institute of Physics of the ACADEMY OF
SCIENCES , and received a doctorate in 1947, at
the relatively young age of 26. In 1948, his men-
tor Igor Tamm recruited him for the ultrasecret
project of developing Soviet thermonuclear
weapons, which had been started at Joseph
STALIN 's insistence. Sakharov's mathematical
contributions to the creation of the Soviet
hydrogen bomb that was tested in August 1953
were central to the success of the program. Hon-
ors and privileges followed, most notably mem-
bership in the USSR Academy of Sciences at the
age of 32.
Although relatively apolitical in the 1950s,
Sakharov's growing doubts about the dangers of
nuclear testing opened the way to a more pro-
found questioning of the Soviet system, espe-
cially after the more conservative BREZHNEV
regime was installed in 1964. His 1968 essay
“Reflections on Progress, Peaceful Coexistence
and Intellectual Freedom” remains a milestone
in the development of the democratic dissident
movement in the Soviet Union. It also marked
the beginning of his troubles with the Soviet
authorities as his secret clearance and many of
his privileges were revoked after its publication
in the underground samizdat press, although he
was able to continue other work at the Lebedev
Institute. In 1970 he was one of the cofounders
of the Committee for Human Rights, becoming
over the next decade one of the leading Soviet
human rights advocates together with his sec-
ond wife, Yelena Bonner. His tireless work and
his prominent position in the Soviet scientific
world gained him a worldwide audience, which
ultimately led to his 1975 Nobel Peace Prize. The
Soviet media vilified him for his work and he
was not permitted to travel to Oslo to receive the
prize on the grounds that he possessed military
secrets from his earlier work. In January 1980,
after publicly criticizing the month-old Soviet
invasion of AFGHANISTAN , Sakharov was arrested
and placed on internal exile in Gorky (Nizhnii
Novgorod), a city that was closed to foreigners
because of the presence of defense-building
industries. Although harassed by the KGB
(secret police) and in poor health, Sakharov
remained in contact with the outside world.
By the time Sakharov was released from inter-
nal exile in December 1986, Mikhail GORBACHEV 's
government was embarking on its attempted
reforms and seeking out the moral authority of
intellectuals such as Sakharov. Sakharov was
sympathetic to Gorbachev's reforms but pressed
for even greater liberalization of the political
process. In March 1989 he was elected to the
new Congress of People's Deputies, where he
played an active role in the small but vocal lib-
eral bloc that chipped away at the monolithic
power of the COMMUNIST PARTY . Derided by many
for his outspokenness, Sakharov died suddenly
in December 1989 from a heart attack. His death
triggered a wave of mourning among Russians
who suddenly felt deprived of a clear moral lead-
ership as they worked to redefine their political
destiny.
Saltykov-Shchedrin, Mikhail
Evgrafovich (1826-1889)
writer
A masterful writer of satire, Saltykov-Shchedrin
was a prominent representative of the realistic
traditions that dominated Russian literature in
the mid-19th century. He began his career in
government service in St. Petersburg, but as a
result of his involvement in the Petrashevsky
Circle, he was banished in 1848 to the province
of Viatka. He returned to the capital in 1855 and
worked in the Ministry of the Interior, where he
participated in drafting plans for the emancipa-
tion of the serfs. In 1858, he was appointed
deputy governor of Ryazan province and subse-
quently of Tver. In 1868, however, his satirical
writings led to his dismissal from government
service and he was forbidden to have any kind of
state appointment. Saltykov then devoted him-
self fully to literature, which he had explored in
an early work, Provincial Sketches (1856-57). He
was coeditor of the leading radical journal, The
Contemporary, and edited its successor, Notes of the
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