Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

The most eloquent and acclaimed opponent of government oppression in the twentieth century, Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, and his work continues to receive international acclaim. Through his writings, particularly THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO and ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH, he helped to make the world aware of the Gulag, the Soviet Union s forced labour camp system. He was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1974 and returned to Russia in 1994. He died on August 2, 2008.