Andrei Sakharov was born on May 21, 1921 into a Moscow family of cultured and liberal intelligentsia. At Moscow University where he studied physics, he was quickly recognized as one of the most brilliant students. He was exempted from military service during the war with Nazi Germany and completed his studies in 1942.
He graduated from Moscow State University in 1942 and went on to receive his doctorate in physics from the P. N. Lebedev Institute in 1947 at the age of 26. A year later he conducted research, along with fellow Soviet physicist Igor Tamm, in controlled nuclear fusion. This work conducted between the years 1948-56, eventually led to the creation of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb. He was fascinated by fundamental physics and cosmology, but first he spent two decades designing nuclear weapons.
For several years he worked as an engineer at an armament factory and patented several inventions. Soon after the war was over he was recruited into the top-secret nuclear weapons project. He is now universally known as the father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb.
Following his 1961 protest against atmospheric testing of the hydrogen bomb, Sakharov's activities became increasingly political in nature. In 1968 he authored an essay calling for drastic reductions in nuclear arms. In 1970 he founded the Committee for Human Rights.
In 1973 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and he won the prize in 1975, although he was not allowed to collect it. Sakharov's ideas on social development led him to put forward the principle of human rights as a new basis of all politics. He was arrested on January 22, 1980 following his protests against the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and was 'exiled' to the closed city of Gorki.
He came to be regarded as the father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb, contributing perhaps more than anyone else to the military might of the USSR. But gradually Sakharov became one of the regime's most courageous critics, a defender of human rights and democracy. He could not be silenced, and helped bring down one of history's most powerful dictatorships. This exhibit tells about Sakharov's extraordinary life.
In December 1986, Sakharov was allowed to return to Moscow, and was eventually elected to the new Soviet Legislature, holding one of 12 new posts reserved for members of the Academy of Sciences. He remained a tireless advocate for political reform and human rights until his death on December 14, 1989.