People of the Revolution and the USSR

Dissident 1906–1999 ○ Natural causes

Gulag survivor, world authority on Old Russian literature, moral conscience of late Soviet society

Solovki, autumn 1929. Warned that an arrest squad was coming for him, he hid all night among the woodpiles, listening to execution volleys. At dawn he understood: "Someone else was taken instead of me — I must now live for two."

Philologist and cultural historian from St. Petersburg. Arrested in 1928 for counter-revolutionary activity, he spent four years at Solovki camp. After release, he joined the Pushkin House, becoming the world's foremost authority on Old Russian literature. He led studies of The Tale of Igor's Campaign and edited the 12-volume Monuments of Literature of Ancient Rus'. Elected Academician in 1970, he served as first chairman of the Soviet Cultural Foundation (1986–1993). He never joined the Communist Party, opposed Sakharov's Academy expulsion, and was called 'Russia's conscience' while a People's Deputy during perestroika. In 1998 he became the first recipient of the restored Order of St. Andrew.