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Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn

アレクサンドル・イサエヴィチ・ソルジェニーツィン

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1918-12-11 （Kislovodsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union）
Died
2008-08-03 （Moscow, Russia） age 89
Nationality
Soviet Union (1922–1974, 1990–1991), Stateless (1974–1990), Russia (from 1991)
Languages
Russian
Religion
Russian Orthodox Church
Residence History
Russia (formerly Soviet Union) → West Germany (1974) → Switzerland (1970s) → United States (Vermont, 1976–1994) → Russia (Moscow, 1994–2008)

Career

Occupations
novelist, essayist, historian, dissident
Active Years
1947-2008
Affiliations
Russian Academy of Sciences (member/affiliate)
Memberships
Russian Academy of Sciences, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (foreign member)
Influenced By
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Russian Orthodox thought and religious tradition
Influenced
Soviet and Russian dissidents and writers, Global human-rights activists and scholars of prison literature

Education

Rostov State University (now Southern Federal University)
Mathematics and Physics (studies)
Period: 1930年代–1940年代（在学・受講）
Country: Soviet Union (Russia)
Studied mathematics and physics at Rostov State University and took correspondence courses from a Moscow institute

Awards

Nobel Prize in Literature
1970
Work: For his writings as a whole (including The Gulag Archipelago)
Organization: Swedish Academy (Sweden)
Result: 受賞
Templeton Prize
1983
Work: Contributions in the area of spiritual and religious thought
Organization: Templeton Foundation
Result: 受賞
Lomonosov Gold Medal
1998
Work: Scholarly and literary contributions
Organization: Russian Academy of Sciences
Result: 受賞
State Prize of the Russian Federation
2007
Work: For contributions to literature
Organization: Government of the Russian Federation
Result: 受賞
International Botev Prize
2008
Work: Lifetime achievement
Organization: International Botev Foundation (Bulgaria)
Result: 受賞（追贈）
Order of St. Andrew
1998
Organization: Russian Federation
Result: 辞退

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

1962 Novella (camp literature) 192 pages

A novella depicting a single day in the life of a Gulag prisoner, exposing the realities of the camp system and the resilience of human dignity.

oppressionsurvivalhuman dignity
Translations
  • One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (English translation)

The Gulag Archipelago

1973 Non-fiction / historical (testimonies) 1500 pages

A three-volume work combining personal experience and hundreds of testimonies to document and analyze the Soviet forced-labor camp system.

state repressionhistorical recordethics and responsibility
Translations
  • The Gulag Archipelago (English translation)

Cancer Ward

1966 Novel (hospital literature / social critique) 352 pages

Set in a hospital, the novel examines the moral and social pathology of Soviet society; the author's own medical experiences inform the work.

illness and recoveryindividual vs. stateethics
Translations
  • Cancer Ward (English translation)

In the First Circle

1968 Novel (about a sharashka) 384 pages

A novel set in a sharashka (special research prison) exploring the moral dilemmas and inner lives of imprisoned intellectuals.

conscienceintellectual freedompower and ethics
Translations
  • In the First Circle (English translation)

August 1914

1971 Historical novel (part of The Red Wheel) 600 pages

A historical novel focusing on the outbreak of World War I and Russia's military and social disarray; part of the multi-volume Red Wheel cycle.

history and memorythe sins of warstate and individual
Translations
  • August 1914 (English translation)

Bibliography

  • One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962)
  • Cancer Ward (1966)
  • In the First Circle (1968)
  • August 1914 (1971)
  • The Gulag Archipelago (1973–1978)
  • Two Hundred Years Together (2001–2002)
  • Various short stories, essays, and memoirs

Adaptations

  • Stage and screen adaptations derived from works such as One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (various, intermittent)

Translations of Works

  • The Gulag Archipelago (English translation)
  • One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (English translation)
  • Cancer Ward (English translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
realist depictionmoral and religious reflectionfusion of history and personal testimony
Recurring Motifs
forced-labor camps and repressionconscience and repentancere-examination of Russian history and culture

Health

  • Tumor (cancer)
    1940年代末–1950年代（治療・寛解）
    His medical treatment experience informed the novel Cancer Ward.
  • Heart failure (cause of death)
    2008（死去）
    Died of heart failure near Moscow in 2008.

Legacy

Solzhenitsyn exposed the realities of Soviet repression and the Gulag to the world, profoundly influencing 20th-century literature and human-rights discourse. His political views provoked debate, but his literary and historical contributions are internationally acknowledged.

Museums

  • Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Center Worcester, Massachusetts, USA Opened in 2000

Academic Societies

  • Russian Academy of Sciences
  • Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (foreign member)

Archives

  • Solzhenitsyn Center archives (English-language holdings)
  • Holdings in Russian archives (Moscow and others)

In Popular Culture

  • Subject of several documentaries and TV programs (e.g., Sokurov's dialogues series)

Quotes

  • "for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature"
    Source: Nobel Prize citation (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1970) (1970)

Trivia

  • Stripped of Soviet citizenship in 1974 and deported to West Germany.
  • Refused Russia's highest honor, the Order of St. Andrew, in 1998.
  • The Gulag Archipelago sold tens of millions of copies and was translated into many languages.