Andrei Sakharov

Science / Scientist Datebook:  May 21

 

Sakharov a nuclear pioneer and activist for peace

Andrei Sakharov (May 21, 1921 - December 14, 1989), was a Soviet physicist and activist often referred to as the father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb. He was awarded the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize for advocacy of human rights and civil liberties, a nuclear pioneer who clamoured for peace.

Andrei (or Andrey) Dmitriyevich Sakharov was born in Moscow, Russia on May 21, 1921. The son of a physicist, he won a doctorate when he was 26 and became a full member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences by the age of 32. He spent several years working with Igor Tamm, a Nobel laureate for physics in 1958.

Initially, he studied cosmic rays before he became involved in the development of the Soviet H-bomb that was tested in 1949. Progressing his test, he moved to a more powerful hydrogen bomb research, tested in 1953.

Sakharov an Inspiration and Conscience of the Cold War

In 1961, Sakharov protested against Nikita Khrushchev's plan to test a 100-megaton hydrogen bomb designed to showcase the Soviet's world dominance. That was the time of the Cuban crisis and John Kennedy was U.S. president. Sakharov feared the effects of a radioactive fallout. In 1968, he published Progress, Coexistence and Intellectual Freedom, , an essay that called for the nuclear arms race to end. In 1971, he married the human rights activist, Yelena Bonner. The couple became increasingly at odds with the Soviet government. He denounced the Soviet adventure into Afghanistan and also called for a worldwide boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games.

In 1980, he was stripped of his honours and exiled to the city of Gorky.  Six years later, he was released and the Soviet government allowed the couple to return to Moscow.  In 1989 Sakharov was elected to the People's Congress, and his honours restored.  He died few months later, on December 14, 1989.

Andrei Sakharov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975, for his work on human rights and civil liberties, a "spokesman for the conscience of mankind."



Image Credit:

Andrei Sakharov.   en.wikipedia.org (Wikimedia Commons)    



Resource:

"Andrei Sakharov - Autobiography". Nobelprize.org. 22 May 2012 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1975/sakharov-autobio.html. Accessed May 21, 2012.


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