Elena Bonner honored at human rights memorial symposium

by Rebekah Judson

On April 6, 2013, scholars of the Soviet Union and modern-day Russia gathered with former participants in the Soviet human rights movement for a symposium dedicated to the memory of human rights activist Elena Bonner (1923–2011). Entitled "Human Rights in the USSR and Putin's Russia," the symposium featured twelve speakers, including Bonner's children, Alexey Semyonov and Tatiana Yankelevich.

Organized by Yankelevich and Mark Kramer of the Davis Center, the afternoon began with a panel on "Soviet Dissidents and the Human Rights Movement in the USSR," featuring recollections by participants such as Pavel Litvinov, one of the most active dissidents during the early Soviet human rights movement, and historian of science Loren Graham (Harvard and MIT), whose presentation included a clip from an early episode of the PBS series NOVA.

In the latter half of the symposium, the speakers discussed "Human Rights and the Legacy of Sakharov and Bonner in Modern-Day Russia." The panel included a presentation from historian Valerie Sperling (Clark University) on gender and human rights issues in modern Russia, and remarks from Nicholas Daniloff (Northeastern University), a journalist who reported from the Soviet Union during the 1980s.

The event concluded with a multimedia presentation by Tatiana Yankelevich, with images of Bonner and her husband (renowned dissident and physicist Andrei Sakharov) throughout the years, as well as excerpts from Russian poetry. Attended by scholars from local universities, students, professors, and visitors affiliated with the Davis Center, and interested members of Boston's Russian-speaking community, the symposium drew lively and engaged discussion from both participants and members of the audience.