Born: 15 February 1923, Turkmenistan
Died: 18 June 2011
Country most active: Turkmenistan
Also known as: Lusik Alikhanova, Елена Георгиевна Боннэр
Yelena Georgiyevna Bonner, a human rights activist in the former Soviet Union, is best remembered for her unwavering commitment to justice and freedom. Born Lusik Alikhanova in Merv, Turkmen SSR (now Turkmenistan), her early life was marked by tragedy as her father faced arrest and execution during Stalin’s Great Purge. In 1941, Bonner volunteered for the Red Army’s Hospital during World War II, where she was wounded twice and later honorably discharged as a disabled veteran. After the war, she earned a degree in pediatrics from the First Leningrad Medical Institute.
In 1970, at the Kaluga trial, Bonner met her future husband, physicist and human rights activist Andrei Sakharov, and they married in 1972. Throughout her life, Bonner actively championed human rights, joining the Moscow Helsinki Group in 1976 and supporting dissidents, including Natan Sharansky. Her activism led to her arrest in 1984, and she endured a five-year exile in Gorky.
Despite challenges, Bonner and Sakharov persevered, with her playing a crucial role during Sakharov’s exile, organizing hunger strikes, and advocating for political prisoners. Following Sakharov’s death in 1989, Bonner continued her advocacy, establishing the Andrei Sakharov Foundation and the Sakharov Archives in Moscow. She remained outspoken on democracy and human rights, resigning from Yeltsin’s Human Rights Commission in protest against the Chechen conflict. In her later years, received the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom in 1999 and in 2010 she signed the Putin must go” manifesto.
Yelena Bonner passed away in 2011 in Boston, leaving behind a legacy of courage and resilience. Her works, including “Alone Together” and “Mothers and Daughters,” documented her experiences, and she received numerous international human rights awards for her tireless efforts in promoting justice and freedom.