Lyudmila Alexeyeva

Biography

Soviet period

In April 1968, Alexeyeva was expelled from the Communist Party and fired from her job at the publishing house.{{cite news |title=Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Russian Champion of Human Rights, Dies at 91

In February 1977, Alexeyeva fled from the USSR to the United States following a crackdown against members of The Chronicle by Soviet authorities. She wrote regularly on the Soviet dissident movement for both English and Russian language publications in the US and elsewhere, and in 1985 she published the first comprehensive monograph on the history of the movement, Soviet Dissent (Wesleyan University Press). In addition, after moving to the United States, Alexeyeva took up freelance radio journalism for Radio Liberty and the Russian language section of the Voice of America. In 1990 she published The Thaw Generation, an autobiography that described the formation of the Soviet dissident movement and was co-written with Paul Goldberg.

Return to Russia

In 1989 she restarted the Moscow Helsinki Group following its dissolution in 1982. In 1993, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, she returned to Russia, and she became a chairperson of the Moscow Helsinki Group in 1996. In 2000, Alexeyeva joined a commission set up to advise President Vladimir Putin on human rights issues, a move that triggered criticism from some other rights activists.

Alexeyeva was critical of the Kremlin's human rights record and accused the government of numerous human rights violations including the regular prohibitions of non-violent meetings and demonstrations and encouragement of extremists with its nationalistic policies, such as the mass deportations of Georgians in 2006 and police raids against foreigners working in street markets. She has also criticized the law enforcers' conduct in Ingushetia and has warned that growing violence in the republic may spread to the whole Russian Federation. In 2006, she was accused by the Russian authorities of involvement with British intelligence and received threats from nationalist groups.

Strategy-31

thumb|right|200px|Alexeyeva in the Strategy-31 protest, 2010 From August 31, 2009, Alexeyeva was an active participant in Strategy-31 – the regular protest rallies of citizens on Moscow's Triumfalnaya Square in defense of the 31st Article (On the Freedom of Assembly) of the Russian Constitution. On December 31, 2009, during one of these attempted protests, Alexeyeva was detained by the riot police (OMON) and taken with scores of others to a police station. This event provoked strong reaction in Russia and abroad. Jerzy Buzek, the President of the European Parliament, was "deeply disappointed and shocked" at the treatment of Alexeyeva and others by the police. The National Security Council of the United States expressed "dismay" at the detentions. The New York Times published a front-page article about the protest rally ("Tested by Many Foes, Passion of a Russian Dissident Endures").

On March 30, 2010, Alexeyeva was assaulted in the Park Kultury metro station by a man as she was paying respect to the victims of the 2010 Moscow Metro Bombings. At the Lake Seliger youth camp,

• the Nashi youth movement branded her "a Nazi" and an enemy of the Russian people.

Alexeyeva was opposed to the 2014 Russian annexation of her native Crimea, saying "that the seizure of Crimea has shamed my country." On her 90th birthday she was visited at her home by Russian president Vladimir Putin (accompanied by a cameraman), despite her longstanding criticism of him.

She died in a Moscow hospital on 8 December 2018. No cause was given. Alexeyeva's last words for publication were written to celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, although she actually died two days short of that anniversary. She lamented the weakening of civil society through state propaganda and manipulation, and she drew attention to the weakness of legal culture and of democratic institutions in contemporary Russia, as well as political cynicism and populism which - not just in Russia - treat carelessly the systems and institutions necessary to support human values.

Awards and prizes

Alexeyeva received the following awards and prizes for her human rights activities:

• 2004 — Olof Palme Prize
• 2005 — Person of the Year Prize of the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Russia
• 2007 — The Order of the French Legion of Honour (Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur)
• 2009 — The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Großes Verdienstkreuz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland)
• 2009 — Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought
• 2012 — The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 3rd class
• 2015 — The Václav Havel Human Rights Prize
• 2017 — State Prize of the Russian Federation

Books, articles and interviews

• (The Russian text of the book in full is available online on the Memorial website by click)

References

References

1. (8 December 2018). "В Москве умерла правозащитница Людмила Алексеева". BBC Russian Service.
2. (1989). "New politics". New Politics Associates.
3. Barry, Ellen. (2010-01-11). "Russian Dissident's Passion Endures Despite Tests". The New York Times.
4. "Алексеева отвергла намеки ТВ на ее связь со шпионами". BBC News Русская служба.
5. Noble, Barnes &. "Soviet Dissent: Contemporary Movements for National, Religious, and Human Rights{{!}}Paperback".
6. (1990). "The thaw generation: coming of age in the post-Stalin era". [[University of Pittsburgh Press]].
7. (February 2022). "Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Russian champion of human rights, dies at 91". Herald-Mail Media.
8. "The Doyenne Of Russia's Human Rights Movement". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
9. Gregory Feifer (March 7, 2007), [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7754423 Russia's New Dissidents Defend Human Rights]. [[National Public Radio]].
10. [http://www.theotherrussia.org/2008/09/22/situation-in-ingushetia-threatens-all-of-russia-–-alexeyeva/ Situation in Ingushetia Threatens All of Russia – Alexeyeva]. [[The Other Russia (coalition). The Other Russia]] website. September 22, 2008.
11. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4640632.stm Russian NGO rejects spy 'smear']. The [[BBC News]]. January 23, 2006.
12. "Lyudmila Alexeyeva is 85". Human Rights in Ukraine.
13. [http://www.ep-president.eu/president/view/en/press/press_release/2010/2010-January/press_release-2010-January-1.html Buzek: The EP appeals for the release of 2009 Sakharov Prize Winner Lyudmila Alexeyeva and other Russian human rights activists] January 1, 2010
14. [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/01/world/europe/01briefs-MoscowBrf.html Russia: Rights Protesters Detained] The New York Times, December 31, 2009
15. [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/world/europe/12dissident.html Russian Dissident's Passion Endures Despite Tests] ''The New York Times'', January 11, 2010
16. "Liudmila Alekseeva was attacked during the memory action at Moscow metro station". Caucasian Knot.
17. "What is Strategy 31?".
18. Johan Bäckman. (2010-07-23). "Päivi Hirvelä on natsi, Naši-nuorten mielestä". [[Finnish Anti-Fascist Committee]].
19. link. [[Delfi.ee]]. (2010-07-26)
20. Triin Tael. (2010-07-26). "Vene noortelaagris aeti Eesti poliitikute pead teibasse". [[Õhtuleht]].
21. link. Anton Oreh. Ежедневный журнал. (2010-07-29)
22. (21 July 2017). "Putin And Alekseyeva: A Study In Contrasts". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
23. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46495487 Lyudmila Alexeyeva: Russian human rights activist dies aged 91], [[BBC News]] (8 December 2018)
24. Людмила Алексеева / Lyudmila Alexeyeva. (2018-12-09). ""Бескомпромиссно защищать жертв и стоять друг за друга" / "Uncompromising championing of victims and mutual solidarity"". "[[:ru:Новая газета.
25. "Prize recipients".
26. "Страница не найдена!".
27. "Légion d'Honneur pour Lioudmila Alexeeva, critique de Poutine". 7 Sur 7.
28. (28 September 2015). "Russia's oldest human rights activist is awarded Vaclav Havel Prize". Russia Beyond the Headlines.
29. [http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/015-62806-292-10-43-902-20091020STO62805-2009-19-10-2009/default_en.htm Sakharov Prize 2009 awarded to Memorial]
30. [http://www.president.ee/en/media/press-releases/7052-the-republic-of-estonia-honours-99-people-with-decorations-on-the-eve-of-independence-day/index.html The Republic of Estonia honours 99 people with decorations on the eve of Independence Day] {{webarchive. link. (2012-04-12)
31. link. (2015-09-30)
32. (11 December 2017). "Подписан Указ о присуждении премий за достижения в области правозащиты и благотворительности".