Ruth Bonner
Encyclopedia
Ruf Grigorjewna Bonner also known as Ruth Bonner, was a Soviet Communist
activist and a victim of Joseph Stalin
's Great Purge
. She was the mother of the human rights activist Yelena Bonner
and the mother-in-law of physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov
.
In the 1930s, Ruth (originally spelled "Ruf") Bonner was a health official in the Communist Party
committee of Moscow while her husband, Gevork Alikhanyan, aka Georgy Alikhanov, was a director at the Comintern
. As part of Stalin's mass purges in 1937, her husband was arrested on charges of espionage
and sentenced to death.
Bonner was arrested a few days after her husband and spent the next eight years in a forced labor camp near Karaganda
, Kazakhstan
. After her release she spent another nine years in internal exile. In 1954 she was one of the first of Stalin's victims to be rehabilitated under the new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
. Her husband was rehabilitated posthumously.
When her daughter Yelena and her son-in-law Andrei Sakharov were exiled to Gorky
in 1980, she was allowed to move to the United States to be with her grandchildren. She returned to Moscow in June 1987 to live with her daughter, whose exile had been lifted by Mikhail Gorbachev
in December 1986. She died in Moscow on 25 December 1987, aged 87.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
activist and a victim of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
. She was the mother of the human rights activist Yelena Bonner
Yelena Bonner
Yelena Bonner was a human rights activist in the former Soviet Union and wife of the noted physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov. During her decades as a dissident, Bonner was noted for her characteristic blunt honesty and courage.-Youth:...
and the mother-in-law of physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist. He earned renown as the designer of the Soviet Union's Third Idea, a codename for Soviet development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov was an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the...
.
In the 1930s, Ruth (originally spelled "Ruf") Bonner was a health official in the Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
committee of Moscow while her husband, Gevork Alikhanyan, aka Georgy Alikhanov, was a director at the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
. As part of Stalin's mass purges in 1937, her husband was arrested on charges of espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
and sentenced to death.
Bonner was arrested a few days after her husband and spent the next eight years in a forced labor camp near Karaganda
Karaganda
Karagandy , more commonly known by its Russian name Karaganda, , is the capital of Karagandy Province in Kazakhstan. It is the fourth most populous city in Kazakhstan, behind Almaty , Astana and Shymkent, with a population of 471,800 . In the 1940s up to 70% of the city's inhabitants were ethnic...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. After her release she spent another nine years in internal exile. In 1954 she was one of the first of Stalin's victims to be rehabilitated under the new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
. Her husband was rehabilitated posthumously.
When her daughter Yelena and her son-in-law Andrei Sakharov were exiled to Gorky
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
in 1980, she was allowed to move to the United States to be with her grandchildren. She returned to Moscow in June 1987 to live with her daughter, whose exile had been lifted by Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
in December 1986. She died in Moscow on 25 December 1987, aged 87.