My history hero: James Coomarasamy chooses Andrei Sakharov (1921–89)
BBC broadcaster James Coomarasamy chooses Andrei Sakharov as a history hero
In profile
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet physicist and, later, dissident awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1975 for championing human rights around the world. After playing a major part in the development of a Soviet hydrogen bomb, he grew concerned about the moral and political implications of his work. In 1980, he was arrested and exiled by Soviet authorities, and later became prominent in political opposition in the USSR.
When did you first hear about Sakharov?
While I was studying Russian at university in the late 1980s. I spent half a year in Moscow during the Gorbachev era – in fact, I was in the USSR when Sakharov was elected to the Congress of People’s Deputies, the Soviet Union’s first serious experiment with parliamentary democracy.
What kind of man was he?
He was a brilliant scientist from an intellectual family. He tried to join the Red Army during the Second World War but failed his medical. He then became involved in the Soviet project to design an atomic bomb – he’s been dubbed ‘The father of the hydrogen bomb’.
By the 1960s, though, he’d come to the view that the development of nuclear weapons had created the potential for worldwide destruction, and that the lack of individual freedoms in the Soviet Union also posed a danger to global peace.
- Read more | How have nuclear weapons shaped global politics? 10 key moments in the post-war atomic world
What made him a hero?
Sakharov used his position as a member of the Soviet elite to try to change the system from within, and used his platform to urge Khrushchev and Brezhnev to stop testing nuclear weapons, protect human rights and find ways to peacefully co-exist with the west.
Speaking out came at great personal cost: by the 1970s, he was regarded as a dissident and traitor. He was prevented from collecting his Nobel Peace Prize, and was later arrested and exiled to the closed city of Gorky.
- Read more | The history of the Nobel Prizes
Eventually, though, the courage he displayed paid off. Gorbachev, who was clearly influenced by Sakharov, came to understand the need for more democracy and for co-existence between the two great power blocs. Sadly, things have moved backwards in Russia in recent years.
What was his finest hour?
Probably his initial decision to stand up against a totalitarian system that had lauded him – and to accept the consequences. All of his later influence at home and abroad stemmed from that decision and from the far-sighted views – linking individual rights with global security – which he developed in the 1960s and which remain relevant in Russia today.
Is there anything you don’t particularly admire about him?
No. He led an unblemished private life. His first wife died and his second, Yelena Bonner, was his soulmate in the struggle for freedom; he even went on hunger strike to persuade authorities to allow her to travel abroad for medical treatment.
What would you ask Sakharov if you could meet him?
I’d love to know what he made of east–west relations today, and of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I’d also ask if he had any advice for those Russians who want their country to pursue a different path.
Jamie Coomarasamy is a BBC broadcaster, presenting The World Tonight and Newshour, and was talking to York Membery.
This article was first published in the April 2025 issue of BBC History Magazine
Authors
York Membery is a regular contributor to BBC History Magazine, the Daily Mail and Sunday Times among other publications. York, who lives in London, worked on the Mirror, Express and Times before turning freelance. He studied history at Cardiff University and the Institute of Historical Research, and has a History PhD from Maastricht University.