1990 Photo Contest, People in the News, 2nd prize
Photographer

Lev Sherstennikov

Ogonyok

01 December, 1989

The coffin with the remains of scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov is being carried from his home to his last resting place, while his wife Yelena Bonner looks on. A brilliant physicist, Andrei Sakharov abandoned science to serve the cause of human rights. 'The conscience of his country' was one of the titles given to this Nobel laureate, whose sincerity was valued by friend and foe. In 1980 he was exiled to Gorky, but his return to Moscow in 1986 was triumphant. As a member of the new congress he continued to antagonize conservatives until his death, of a heart attack, at the age of 68. His grief-stricken wife, Yelena Bonner and hundreds of admirers accompanied him to his last resting place.

About the photographer

Lev Sherstennikov

Russian photojournalist Lev Sherstennikov (Ufa, 1938) graduated from Leningrad Institute of Cinema Engineering. From 1957 onwards, he began to publish his photos in the magazine ...

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