Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Novelist and historian, 1918-2008

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008) was a Russian novelist and historian. Born in Kislovodsk, Russia, he lived through some of the most turbulent decades of the 20th century. After serving as a soldier in the Soviet army, Solzhenitsyn was arrested in 1945 for criticizing Joseph Stalin in a private letter and sentenced to eight years in a labor camp, followed by internal exile in Kazakhstan. These experiences profoundly shaped his worldview and provided the material for much of his later writing, including his book, “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.” His works exposed the harsh realities of the Soviet labor camps and gave voice to millions of silenced victims of political oppression. 

In one of his letters written to a group of students who visited him, he wrote "There is nothing relative about justice, as there is nothing relative about conscience. Indeed, justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice. I consider that in all social or historical questions (if we are aware of them, not from hearsay or books, but are touched by them spiritually), justice will always suggest a way to act (or judge) which will not conflict with our conscience.” 

Solzhenitsyn’s perspective on justice was deeply rooted in moral and spiritual conviction rather than political ideology. He believed that justice could not exist under a system that relied on lies, fear, and the dehumanization of individuals. His writings emphasized truth-telling as a form of resistance, insisting that moral integrity was the foundation of a just society.