Ginzburg, Aleksandr (Ilich) 1936–2002

(Alexander Ginzburg)

PERSONAL: Given name sometimes transliterated as Aleksander; patronymic sometimes transliterated as Il'ich or Ilyich; original surname, Chizhov; born November 21, 1936, in Moscow (some sources cite Leningrad, now St. Petersburg), USSR (now Russia); immigrated to United States, c. 1979; immigrated to France, c. 1980; died July 19, 2002, in Paris, France; son of Sergei Chizhov (an architect); mother an economist (maiden name, Ginzburg); married Irina S. Zholkovskaya, 1969; children: Alexandre, Alexis. Education: Attended Moscow University, 1956–60, and Moscow Historical Archive Institute, 1966–67. Religion: Russian Orthodox.

CAREER: Journalist. Sintaksis (underground poetry journal; title means "Syntax"), founder and editor, 1959–60; imprisoned in labor camps, 1960–62; jailed, 1968–72; manager of a fund established by author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to aid political prisoners, beginning c. 1974; Helsinki Group (monitors of Soviet human rights abuses; also known as Helsinki Watch), founding member, c. 1976; imprisoned, 1977–79; American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations, New York, NY, staff member at European office in France; Russkaya Mysl (periodical; title means "Russian Thought"), Paris, France, writer, c. 1980–97. Proponent of nonviolent activism against human-rights abuses in Russia.

WRITINGS:

Author of The White Book, published outside Russia, c. 1966. Contributor to periodicals.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

New York Times, July 14, 1978, "Trial in Soviet a Cause Célèbre"; January 14, 1980, "Family of Soviet Dissident to Join Him in U.S.," p. A7; October 16, 1986, "Three Moscow Dissidents Are Reunited in U.S.," p. A11; August 8, 1998, Craig R. Whitney, "In the 'Free' World Now, but He's Still a Dissident," p. A4.

OBITUARIES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2002, p. B15.

New York Times, July 20, 2002, p. A11.

Times (London, England), July 23, 2002.

Washington Post, July 20, 2002, p. B6.