Vladimir Bukovsky

Date of Birth: December 30, 1942

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Date of Death: October 27, 2019

Biography

Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky was a renowned Russian-born British human rights activist, neurophysiologist, and author who became one of the most prominent dissidents in the Soviet Union during the 1960s and 1970s. Bukovsky was born on December 30, 1942, in Belebey, Bashkir ASSR, Soviet Union. He is best known for his tireless fight against Soviet political abuse of psychiatry and for exposing the Soviet Union’s use of psychiatric hospitals to silence political prisoners. Bukovsky’s activism began in his teenage years and led to multiple arrests and incarcerations in Soviet prisons, labor camps, and psychiatric institutions. His most notable period of activism was between 1963 and 1976, during which he smuggled out documents that provided evidence of the Soviet Union’s abuse of psychiatry for political purposes. These documents were instrumental in raising global awareness and condemnation of Soviet human rights violations. In 1976, Bukovsky was exchanged for Chilean Communist leader Luis Corvalán and relocated to the United Kingdom, where he continued his activism, writing, and public speaking. He authored several books detailing his experiences and the atrocities committed by the Soviet regime. Bukovsky remained a vocal critic of the Soviet government and later the Russian Federation until his death on October 27, 2019, in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

5 Interesting Facts about Vladimir Bukovsky

1. Bukovsky’s smuggling of psychiatric abuse documents led to worldwide condemnation and reforms in the Soviet Union.

2. He spent a total of 12 years in Soviet prisons, labor camps, and psychiatric hospitals due to his dissident activities.

3. Bukovsky was exchanged for the Chilean Communist leader Luis Corvalán in 1976, a significant Cold War event.

4. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize multiple times for his human rights efforts.

5. Bukovsky was a gifted writer and authored several influential books, including “To Build a Castle: My Life as a Dissenter.”

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Vladimir Bukovsky

1. “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.”

2. “The worst evil is not the actions of evil people, but the indifference of good people.”

3. “The Soviet Union is a state run by criminals for criminal purposes.”

4. “Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my fellow men were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.”

5. “I have always believed that the best way to defend one’s rights is to exercise them.”

Highest Net Worth Achieved

The highest net worth Vladimir Bukovsky achieved is not well-documented or publicly available due to his primary focus on activism and human rights rather than accumulating personal wealth.