Natan Sharansky

Natan Sharansky (Hebrew: ??? ??????, Russian: ????? ????????? ?????????; born January 20, 1948) is a notable former Soviet anticommunist, Zionist, Israeli politician and writer.

Biography

Born Anatoly Shcharansky (???????? ?????????) in Donetsk, Ukraine to a Jewish family, he graduated with the degree in applied mathematics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

Related Topics:
Donetsk - Ukraine - Jewish - Applied mathematics - Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

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After being denied an exit visa to Israel on the grounds of "national security" in 1973, he worked as an English interpreter for prominent physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, and also became a human rights activist. Sharansky was one of the founders and the spokesman of Jewish and the Refusenik movement in Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, also known as Yuri Orlov's group.

Related Topics:
National security - 1973 - Physicist - Andrei Sakharov - Human rights - Refusenik - Helsinki Watch Group - Yuri Orlov

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In March 1977 he was arrested and in July 1978 convicted on the (trumped up) charges of treason and spying for the United States and sentenced to 13 years of forced labor.

Related Topics:
1977 - 1978 - Treason - Spy - United States - Forced labor

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After 16 months of incarceration in Lefortovo prison he was sent to a Siberian labor camp Perm 35 where he served for nine years. The fate of Sharansky and other political prisoners in the USSR, repeatedly brought to attention by Western human rights groups and diplomats, was a cause of embarrassment and irritation for the Soviet authorities. In 1986, he was exchanged for a Soviet spy and emigrated to Israel, adopting a Hebrew given name Natan.

Related Topics:
Lefortovo prison - Siberia - Labor camp - Political prisoners - 1986 - Hebrew

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In 1988 Sharansky was elected the President of the Zionist Forum, an umbrella organization of former Soviet dissidents-Zionists. Sharansky also served as a contributing editor to The Jerusalem Report and a Board member of the Peace Watch.

Related Topics:
1988 - Peace Watch

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In 1989 the US President Ronald Reagan awarded him with the Medal of Freedom.

Related Topics:
1989 - US President - Ronald Reagan - Medal of Freedom

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Sharansky is the chairman and founder (1995) of the political party Yisrael BaAliya ("Israel for aliya" or wordplay "Israel on the rise") promoting the absorption of the Soviet Jews into the Israeli society. With another ex-Soviet dissident Yuli Edelstein as a cofounder and a slogan stating that ther political party is different: its leaders first go to prison and only then go into politics, the party won seven Knesset seats in 1996. {{ref|cfd_xxiii}}

Related Topics:
1995 - Yisrael BaAliya - Aliya - Wordplay - Yuli Edelstein - Knesset - 1996

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From 2003 to 2005, Sharansky was a cabinet member of the Israeli government (the second Ariel Sharon's government). He resigned on May 2 2005 in protest of the ruling Likud party's plan to withdraw Israeli settlers from the contested Gaza Strip.

Related Topics:
2003 - 2005 - Cabinet - Israeli - Ariel Sharon - May 2 - Likud - Gaza Strip

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He was listed under number eleven on the List of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2005 in the "Scientists and thinkers" category. He is currently a distinguished fellow at the Shalem Center, the Jerusalem research institute that publishes the journal Azure (www.azure.org.il).

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