{"id":10495,"date":"2023-05-16T23:11:20","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T04:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whia.us\/10495\/"},"modified":"2023-05-16T23:23:40","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T04:23:40","slug":"%d8%a3%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%b1%d9%83%d8%a7-%d8%aa%d9%83%d8%b1%d9%91%d9%85-%d8%b1%d8%ac%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%b3%d9%8a-%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%ae%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%88","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whia.us\/en\/10495\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring human rights champion Andrei Sakharov"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WHIA- ShareAmerica<\/span><\/h1>\n

By Michael Laff<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n

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Renowned musicians will pay tribute to Andrei Sakharov, the famed Russian Nobel Peace Prize laureate, scientist and human rights activist whose ideas about peace and humanity still resonate more than 30 years after his death.<\/p>\n

\"Tatiana
Tatiana Yankelevich (Courtesy of Tatiana Yankelevich)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The May 21 event at Carnegie Hall in New York was originally scheduled for 2021 to mark Sakharov\u2019s 100th birthday but was postponed because of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Tatiana Yankelevich, a Harvard University researcher who is Sakharov\u2019s stepdaughter, and pianist Evgeny Kissin discussed the idea of an honorary concert at Carnegie.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSakharov was a visionary and a humanist on a global scale,\u201d Yankelevich told ShareAmerica. \u201cBoth as a scientist and as a political philosopher, his ideas gave new direction in science and in the way we look at human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pianist
Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin, seen above performing in Bologna, Italy, in 2022, said \u201cSakharov was my hero for as long as I can remember.\u201d (\u00a9 Roberto Serra\/Iguana Press\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Kissin, a Moscow native who lives in Prague, said Sakharov\u2019s \u201cideas and moral authority are ever more relevant today.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

From physicist to dissident<\/h2>\n
\"Photo
(State Dept.\/M. Gregory)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trained as a physicist, Sakharov helped develop the Soviet Union\u2019s hydrogen bomb. He later warned about the consequences of nuclear weapons and criticized Soviet society for its restrictions on personal freedom.<\/p>\n

In a memorabe 1968 New YorkTimes<\/em>\u00a0essay<\/a>, he wrote that people who are fortunate to live in open societies should fight for the freedom of people living in closed societies.<\/p>\n

In 1970, Sakharov founded a committee to defend human rights and victims of political trials. He called for the release of political prisoners. The European Union has an annual human rights award in his name.<\/p>\n

When he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975, the committee called Sakharov the \u201cconscience of humanity.\u201d Soviet leaders refused to allow him to travel to Norway to receive the award.<\/p>\n

\"Andrei
Andrei Sakharov in 1974 (\u00a9 Christian Hirou\/Gamma-Rapho\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Making sacrifices<\/h2>\n

Throughout his life Sakharov spoke out even when consequences were severe. He criticized the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, lost all his state awards and was sent into internal exile to the closed Soviet city of Gorky. Mikhail Gorbachev allowed him to return to Moscow in 1986.<\/p>\n

In March 1989, Sakharov was elected to the new parliament and co-led the democratic opposition. Sakharov died later that same year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe understood there would be reprisals,\u201d Yankelevich said. \u201cEven if he had foreseen them, I don\u2019t think that would have changed his mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January 2023, the Russian government declared the Sakharov Center, a human rights institution in Moscow, \u201cundesirable\u201d and it was\u00a0forced to close<\/a>. Sakharov\u2019s personal papers are archived at Harvard University.<\/p>\n

\"Crowd
People attend Sakharov\u2019s funeral at Vostryakovskoye Cemetery in Moscow December 18, 1989. (\u00a9 Wojtek Laski\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sakharov\u2019s dedication to\u00a0freedom<\/a>\u00a0continues to inspire many worldwide.<\/p>\n

In 2015, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger called Sakharov \u201ca remarkable man whose heroic insistence on the preservation of human dignity in the Soviet Union was a seminal contribution to the cause of freedom in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a 2021 letter, President Biden shared \u201cthe deep appreciation of the American people for the work and enduring legacy of Dr. Andrei Sakharov.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. nonprofit National Endowment for Democracy noted in 2021 that \u201cdespite the high personal cost, activists, journalists, lawyers, and ordinary citizens continue to work courageously to realize Sakharov\u2019s vision of peace and human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dmitri Daniel Glinski, managing director of the New York-based American Russian-Speaking Association for Civil and Human Rights, compared Sakharov\u2019s influence to Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.<\/p>\n

\u201cSakharov and his human rights movement were the real winners in the Cold War,\u201d Glinski told ShareAmerica.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WHIA- ShareAmerica By Michael Laff Renowned musicians will pay tribute to Andrei Sakharov, the famed Russian Nobel Peace Prize laureate, scientist and human rights activist whose ideas about peace and humanity still resonate more than 30 years after his death. Tatiana Yankelevich (Courtesy of Tatiana Yankelevich) The May 21 event at Carnegie Hall in New …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10493,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[142,128,129,144],"tags":[],"series":[1027],"coauthors":[238],"class_list":["post-10495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-most-important-topics-en","category-updates-en","category-usa-world-en","category-arab-women-of-influence-en","series-whia-synergy"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/whia.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/\u0633\u0627\u062e\u0627\u0631\u0648\u0641.jpeg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/whia.us\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/whia.us\/en\/feed\/podcast\/whia-synergy","embedCode":"

Honoring human rights champion Andrei Sakharov<\/a><\/blockquote>