Russian author, former Soviet dissident Voinovich dies at age 85

The Russian author and former Soviet dissident Vladimir Voinovich died at the age of 85, the Russian state media, his family and his friends.

The date, place and exact cause of his death were not immediately reported. The TASS news agency quoted his wife, Svetlana Kolesnichenko, as saying on July 28 that his funeral would probably be held on July 30th.

Voinovich was born on September 26, 1932 in the city of Stalinabad, Tajik capital of Dushanbe. was then called. His father was arrested in 1936 under the indictment of anti-Soviet agitation and spent five years in the labor camps of dictator Josef Stalin.

In 1969, the first part of his classic satirical novel The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin was published, followed by the second part 10 years later.

He is also known for his dystopian novel 1987 Moscow 2042, in which the country is ruled by a Communist Party of State Security that combines elements of the Soviet Communist Party, the Russian Orthodox Church and KGB secret police

In 1974, the Soviet government began to harass Voinovich's human rights activism.

He was stripped of his citizenship and forced into exile outside in 1980, working for a while for Radio Liberty. His citizenship was restored by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev a decade later, and he returned to live in Russia.

In 2002, he won the Andrei Sakharov Prize for Writer's Civic Courage.

In comments to RFE / RL in 2017 Voinovich said that under the presidency of Vladimir Putin, Russian politics had turned to the past, focusing on the alleged achievements in the Old and recent history of Russia instead of building a vision of the future. in power, it turned to the most conservative elements of society, especially to the veterans of the Second World War, to the elderly who participated or not in the war, who parade less with a large number of military ribbons, "This has been a turning point to the past, and it was the beginning of politics to look to the past." Of course, any normal policy is geared towards the future. need not rely on elderly people who are dying or who are already dead, but also young people who are born and grow up, "he added.

With the report of the Russian service of RFE / RL