Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Lore & Background

Solzhenitsyn was born into a family that defied the Soviet anti-religious campaign in the 1920s and remained devout members of the Russian Orthodox Church. At a young age he became an atheist and embraced Marxism–Leninism. While serving as a captain in the Red Army during World War II, Solzhenitsyn was arrested by SMERSH and sentenced to eight years in the Gulag and then internal exile for criticizing Joseph Stalin in private correspondence with another field officer. As a result of his experience in prison and the camps, he gradually became a philosophically minded Eastern Orthodox Christian. During the Khrushchev Thaw, Solzhenitsyn was released and exonerated. He started writing novels about his experiences and repression in the Soviet Union. In 1962, he published his first novel, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich—an account of Stalinist repressions—with approval from Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. His last work to be published in the Soviet Union was Matryona's Place in 1963. After Khrushchev lost power, Soviet authorities unsuccessfully tried to discourage Solzhenitsyn from writing. His novels published in other countries included Cancer Ward in 1966, In the First Circle in 1968 and August 1914 in 1971. His three-volume non-fiction book, The Gulag Archipelago, was published in 1973. The last outraged authorities and, in 1974, he was stripped of his Soviet citizenship and flown to West Germany. He soon moved to Switzerland and then, in 1976, to Vermont in the United States with his family. He continued to write and his Soviet citizenship was restored in 1990. He returned to Russia four years later and remained there until his death in 2008.

Reader's Guide

Solzhenitsyn was born in Kislovodsk. His father, Isaakiy Semyonovich Solzhenitsyn, was of Russian descent, and his mother, Taisiya Zakharovna (née Shcherbak), was of Ukrainian descent. His father died in a hunting accident before his birth. He was raised by his widowed mother and aunt. His mother raised him in the Russian Orthodox faith. He studied mathematics and physics at Rostov State University and took correspondence courses from the Moscow Institute of Philosophy, Literature, and History. During World War II, he served as a commander of a sound-ranging battery in the Red Army and was awarded the Order of the Red Star. In February 1945, he was arrested by SMERSH for criticizing Stalin in correspondence. He was convicted of anti-Soviet propaganda and founding a hostile organization, sentenced to eight years in a labour camp. He served in several work camps, a sharashka, and a Special Camp in Ekibastuz. After release, he was sent into internal exile. He was exonerated during the Khrushchev Thaw. He died on 3 August 2008.

Did You Know?

• Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Order of the Red Star on 8 July 1944 for sound-ranging two German artillery batteries and adjusting counterbattery fire.
• His poem 'Prussian Nights' describes a woman raped to death in East Prussia.
• He was arrested in February 1945 while serving in East Prussia.
• His sentence was eight years in a labour camp, followed by internal exile.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice." — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn "Letter to three students (October 1967) as translated in Solzhenitsyn: A Documentary Record (1970) edited by Leopold Labedz, “The Struggle Intensifies" — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn "Blow the dust off the clock. Your watches are behind the times. Throw open the heavy curtains which are so dear to you — you do not even suspect that the day has already dawned outside." — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn "Letter to the Secretariat of the Soviet Writers’ Union (12 November 1969) as translated in Solzhenitsyn: A Documentary Record (1970) edited by Leopold Labedz, “Expulsion" — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn