Gunārs Astra | |
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| Born | 22 October 1931 |
| Died | 6 April 1988(1988-04-06) (aged 56) Leningrad, USSR |
| Known for | human rights activism |
Gunārs Astra (22 October 1931 – 6 April 1988) was a Latvianhuman rightsactivist and an anti-Sovietdissident who was arrested by theSoviet Union in 1961, and was sentenced to prison for 15 years. He was released in 1976. In 1983, he was arrested again, but released several weeks before his death.
Gunārs Astra was born inRiga, on 22 October 1931. He graduated from primary school and later continued his education in an electromechanicaltechnical school. After graduation in 1952, he started to work in one of the largest electromechanical factories in theLatvian SSR –VEF. Because Astra was a very erudite and industrious worker, he was granted a promotion and became chief of the 7th Radio manufacturing workshop. He also studied theEnglish language in university as an external student.
In 1958, Gunārs Astra had the chance to meetAmerican diplomats in Riga. This encounter had a great influence on him in his later life, allowing him to considerWestern culture and develop an innate opposition toCommunism and theUSSR. In 1961, Astra was accused ofspying, promoting anti-Soviet propaganda, and homeland betrayal, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was imprisoned inMordovia, and later in thePerm Oblast. During his custody, he educated himself and met other political prisoners from all over theSoviet Union.
Astra was released in 1976 and returned to Latvia. He had not changed his political views and continued to oppose the Soviet regime.In 1983, he was arrested for the second time and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. This time he was accused of possessing and distributing anti-Soviet literature, one of them beingGeorge Orwell's1984. In courts proceeding the Soviet rule, Astra became known for his famous final statement, in which he condemned the Soviet regime. He ended his speech by saying, "I believe that these times will disappear like a nightmare does. That gives me the strength to stand and breathe here."
He was released from prison in February 1988, but died in a hospital inLeningrad on 6 April shortly afterwards, from heart disease. Nevertheless, there remain unconfirmed theories that theKGB was involved in his death. His funeral in Riga was reportedly attended by 10,000 people.
There is a commemorative plaque on the District Court building inRiga where Astra was sentenced, and a street in the capital bears his name.
Gunārs Astra lies in theForest Cemetery inRiga.
On 3 May 2019, he was posthumously awarded with theOrder of Viesturs.
On 20 January 2022, a monument to him was unveiled in front of the Latvian Supreme Court building.
1998. NovelGunars Astra written by Māris Ruks (awarded the General Goppers Prize (USA) – a historical documentary of the most renowned defenders of human rights, renewal of independence in the Baltic States and dissident Gunārs Astra).
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