Sergei Grigoryants | |
|---|---|
| Сергей Григорьянц Сергій Григорьянц | |
 Sergei Grigoryants in 2015 | |
| Born | (1941-05-12)12 May 1941 |
| Died | 14 March 2023(2023-03-14) (aged 81) |
| Nationality | Armenian[1]-Ukrainian |
| Citizenship | Soviet Union (1941–1991), Russia (1991–2023) |
| Alma mater | Moscow State University,Kyiv Polytechnic Institute,Riga Civil Aviation Engineers Institute |
| Occupation(s) | Aerospace engineering,journalism,literary criticism, human rights activism, publishing |
| Known for | publishingGlasnost magazine, chairing theGlasnost Defense Foundation |
| Movement | Dissident movement in the Soviet Union |
| Awards | World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award |
| Website | grigoryants |
Sergei Ivanovich Grigoryants (Russian:Серге́й Ива́нович Григорья́нц,Ukrainian:Сергі́й Іва́нович Григорья́нц, 12 May 1941 – 14 March 2023)[2] was aSoviet dissident and political prisoner, journalist, literary critic,[3] chairman of theGlasnost Defense Foundation. He was imprisoned for ten years[4] in Chistopol jail as a political prisoner for anti-Soviet activities, from 1975 to 1980 and then four more years starting in 1983 on similar charges.[5]
Sergei Grigoryants was born on 12 May 1941 inKyiv (then Kiev) in theUkrainian SSR of theSoviet Union (USSR).[6] He was ofArmenian-Ukrainian descent.[7] Grigoryants studied at theKyiv Polytechnic Institute, the faculty of journalism at theMoscow State University and theRiga Civil Aviation Engineers Institute (at the time all these cities were located inside theUSSR).[6]
In 1975, Grigoryants was arrested by theKGB and sentenced to five years in prison foranti-Soviet agitation and propaganda.
After his release in 1982, he circulated insamizdat information onhuman rights violations in the Soviet Union as editor of the periodicalBulletin V.[8] For this activity, he was again arrested in 1984 and sentenced to ten years of strict regime labor camp.[9]
After the beginning ofGeneral Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet UnionMikhail Gorbachev'sperestroika, he was released in 1987 under amnesty.[10] He immediately resumed his human rights activities and proceeded to publishGlasnost magazine, criticizing the communist system.[11]
In May 1989 Grigoryants created and headed the union of independent journalists, which included a number of journalists representing independent (samizdat) printed in the USSR.
In 1989, Grigoryants was awardedGolden Pen of Freedom Award of theWorld Association of Newspapers.[12]
In the 1990s he regularly voiced his demands forlustration, filed a lawsuit against the KGB, demanded to return his confiscated archive.[13]
Grigoryants was in opposition toRussian PresidentVladimir Putin's policies, in particular, he expressed protests against the infringement ofdemocratic freedoms inRussia and criticized the government for the war[which?] inChechnya.[6]
In 2014, Grigoryants condemnedRussian aggression againstUkraine and even filed a complaint to theInternational Court of Justice demanding President Putin's trial.[14][15]
Grigoryants died the age of 82 on 14 March 2023.[6] The place and cause of death, as well as the date and place of the funeral, were not reported.[16]
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