Russian Writer's Final Farewell

CHAN:
Russian dissident writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn has been laid to rest. He died at his Moscow home on Sunday at the age of 89. The writer spent eight years in the Gulag prison camps before devoting his life to documenting the horrors of the Soviet rule.

STORY:
Around 100 people packed the tiny church at Moscow's Donskoi monastery for the funeral of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. The Russian writer and dissident died on Sunday at the age of 89.

The location of his funeral - a monastery reserved for Russia's finest -indicates how much the country has changed in recent years.

The Russian president also joined mourning family members, including Solzhenitsyn's new baby grandson.

The writer devoted his life to documenting the horrors of Soviet rule. He spent eight years in Gulag prison camps and lived in America for 20 years after being expelled from Russia. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature and had his citizenship restored in 1990.

He returned to Moscow four years later and retired into seclusion to write. He chose Donskoi monastery as his final resting spot five years ago. He needed special permission to be buried there and got it - Alexander Solzhenitsyn can now take his place in Russian history.

Category:

News & Politics

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[Politeama]

A brave man, a great writer, a noble human being. Eternal repose to his soul. He will be missed. I admire his writing and his political position is an inspiration for his devotion to freedom. Thank you, and God Bless!