From bomb engineer to pacifist: Andrei Sakharov
For the 22nd time the European Parliament is awarding the prestigious Sakharov prize. The recognition through the Prize for Freedom of thought is an honour reserved for only the greatest defenders of human rights. The Prize was named after a co-developer of the most destructive bomb ever built, Andrei Sakharov (1921-1989), the Soviet nuclear physicist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. A bizarre combination
Andrei Sakharov bequeathed his name to the prize with which, since 1988, the members of the European Parliament have been rewarding people or organisations who have dedicated themselves to human rights.
He was an intelligent man, and a man of extremes. On one hand his insights formed the basis for the hydrogen bomb, on the other hand he was an advocate for human rights, which he claimed shouldto be a central element in international politics.
A close-knit family
Sakharov, who was born in czarist Russia, grew up in a traditional family.
His father was a renowned physicist from whom Andrei inherited his obvious talent for natural sciences.
While his love of humanity he claims to have inherited from grandmother. She lived with the family and had a great influence on all of them.
The hydrogen bomb
Sakharov cut his teeth on natural sciences. His area of study was a self-evident choice: physics.
In 1942, in the midst of the war, he graduated from the University of Moscow. After completing his doctoral studies in nuclear physics at the USSR Academy of Sciences, he began work as a researcher on an ultra top-secret project.
It was 1948, the beginning of the Cold War. The Soviet Union assigned Sakharov and his team the task of developing nuclear weapons.
Sakharov proved to be a genius and his ideas formed the basis for the development of both the first Soviet atom bomb and later the hydrogen bomb. Moreover, the most powerful hydrogen bomb ever made was the brainchild of Sakharov.
The doubts
Initially he was a fervent believer in the value of his work, convinced that the job he was doing would contribute to global stability. But doubts began to plague him. In his article Reflections on Progress, Peaceful Coexistence, and Intellectual Freedom (1968)Sakharov broaches the subject of the dangers of an arms race with the USA.
The reaction to his article was to have a major impact: the USSR banned him from further work in military-related research.
A heart for humanity
Sakharov’s compassion was not only his grandmother's legacy. During the Second World War, he had worked for a time as a woodcutter in a desolate village and had witnessed how his countrymen suffered under the war and the tyranny of the regime.
Together with his friends Valery Chalidze and Andrei Tverdokhlebov, in 1970 he founded the first human rights organisation in the Soviet Union: the Moscow Human Rights Committee. Their aim was to highlight the shortcomings of the regime and to combat the intellectual elite’s indifference to human rights abuses.
The reward
Sakharov’s efforts on behalf of human rights in the Soviet Union won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975. This was not his only reward.
Nowadays it is generally accepted that Sakharov’s article from 1968 on ‘peaceful coexistence’ has had a huge influence on political thought. The idea that human rights should underlie all political action has gained widespread acceptance. Certainly within the EU, where respect for human rights and democracy forms an important part of the collaboration between the 27 member states. In 1988, one year before his death, the European Parliament therefore decided to name their prize for human rights activists after Andrei Sakharov.
This year, the winner of the 'Prize for freedomof thought' is the Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas. On 15 December the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek will present the award in Strasbourg. However, the laureate Fariñas will most likely be unable to claim his prize in person. The chances are very slim that the Cuban regime will grant him permission to leave the country.
Read more about Guillermo Fariñas
Statement by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton on Sakharov Prize
Explosion Hydrogen bomb, © Superstock, 1952
'Memoirs of a 20th Century Giant, Cover of Time Magazine, 14 May 1990, © EPA, 2010
Guillermo Fariñas, winner of the Sakharov Prize 2010, in Cuba, © EPA, 2010
Statue of Andrei Sakharov by Peter Shapiro in Washington D.C., © EPA
Andrei Sakharov, © APF, 1975
Bookcover of Andrei Sakharov's Memoires
Andrei Sakharov painted on the Berlijnse Muur, © Foto Joachim Thum, 1991