Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, R.I.P.

[INDY500]

National Review Online

When 1999 turned into 2000, a lot of people asked, “Who was the Man of the Century?” And many answered, “Solzhenitsyn.” That was a very solid choice.

Born in 1918, Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn became the voice and conscience of the Russian people. There was no greater or more effective foe of Communism, or of totalitarianism in general. His Gulag Archipelago was a crushing blow to the Soviet Union — after its publication in the mid-1970s, the USSR had no standing, morally. The book was effective because it was true.
Among the many other items worthy of mention from The Gulag Archipelago was how Solzhenitsyn literally did the Lord’s work by reporting on the Moscow “church trials” of the 1920s — classic, prototype communist show trials, aimed specifically at the Russian church. These were outrageous miscarriages of justice, the outcome always predetermined, and the goal to undermine communism’s most despised foe: God.

Godspeed

 

[anitram]

The Gulag Archipelago is really quite a stunning and important piece of work.

Man of the century? I don't think so. Solzhenitsyn basically espoused the idea that Russian hegemony is a good thing, maintained that the Russians were a separate, unique and superior race (to the detriment of minorities in the USSR and later in Russia proper), held anti-semitic views as late as a decade ago, and promoted suppression of religious though outside of the Orthodox Church.