Andrei Sakharov 1921–89

BBC broadcaster James Coomarasamy chooses

IN PROFILE Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet physicist and, later, dissident awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1975 for championing human rights around the world. After playing a major part in the development of a Soviet hydrogen bomb, he grew concerned about the moral and political implications of his work. In 1980, he was arrested and exiled by Soviet authorities, and later became prominent in political opposition in the USSR. Sakharov used his position in the Soviet elite to try to change the system from within, urging leaders to stop testing nuclear weapons and protect human rights When did you first hear about Sakharov? While I was studying Russian at university in the late 1980s. I spent half a year in Moscow during the Gorbachev era – in fact,…

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Bbc History (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025

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