Andrei Sakharov Secret Nobel Speech Handover Revealed

Andrei Sakharov Secret Nobel Speech Handover Revealed

A Cold December Morning in 1975

On a cold December morning in 1975, Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov met a Norwegian diplomat on a Moscow street to hand over his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize. His wife, Yelena Bonner, was set to read his words at the Oslo award ceremony, which he was forbidden to attend.

A Scientist Turned Dissident

Sakharov, a nuclear physicist and father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb, became one of the most prominent critics of the Communist regime. He openly condemned human rights abuses and later campaigned against nuclear weapons.

Despite being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Soviet authorities refused to allow him to leave the country, citing his access to “state and military secrets.”

Smuggling the Speech

Recently released documents provide new insight into how Sakharov managed to smuggle his Nobel lecture and acceptance speech to Norway.

In early December 1975, Norwegian diplomat Viggo Lange received a call at the Norwegian embassy in Moscow from an unnamed Russian, later revealed to be Sakharov. The dissident requested to meet outside the embassy, fearing he might be stopped if he attempted to enter.

A Tense Encounter on the Streets of Moscow

Lange documented the meeting in a memo to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. He described waiting outside the embassy, noticing a Soviet militia officer observing the area. Shortly before the meeting, the officer received a call and left. Minutes later, Sakharov arrived in a chauffeured car.

Recognizing Lange, Sakharov approached him on the pavement and handed over a typewritten manuscript containing his Nobel lecture and acceptance speech. The militia officer observed but did not intervene.

The Norwegian Embassy’s Role

Following the exchange, Lange called Norwegian Ambassador Petter Graver. Inside the embassy library, Sakharov requested that his documents be safely delivered to his wife, who was in Western Europe at the time. Graver assured him they would be passed on.

The Nobel Ceremony Without Sakharov

On December 10, 1975, Yelena Bonner read Sakharov’s speech in Oslo. In his address, he stated that Soviet authorities denied him permission to travel under the pretext that he possessed sensitive state and military secrets.

The Nobel committee awarded Sakharov the prize “for his struggle for human rights in the Soviet Union, for disarmament and cooperation between all nations.”

Exile and Return

In 1980, after he criticized the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Sakharov was exiled to the closed city of Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod), barring him from foreign contact.

He remained in internal exile until 1986, when Mikhail Gorbachev’s glasnost policies led to his release. Returning to Moscow, Sakharov resumed his scientific work, traveled to the West, and regained official recognition.

Sakharov passed away on December 14, 1989, leaving behind a legacy as a fearless advocate for human rights and peace.

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