Reason for leaving:
the possibility of leaving the Soviet Union

BOSTON. Human rights activist, poet, mathematician Alexander Yesenin-Volpin died.

Alexander Sergeevich was a truly renaissance person, equally talented in each of his personalities: philosopher, poet, dissident, scientist. Although he himself considered himself more of a mathematician. According to many, brilliant. His last offspring in this area is the fundamental logical theory of ultra-intuitionism. The poetical talent inherited from his father, Sergei Yesenin, and his mother, the poetess and translator Nadezhda Volpin, brought him not only recognition. Payback for poems that were not complimentary to the Soviet regime was forced hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital in 1949 and exile.

The death of Stalin brought him freedom only for a while. Once every 10 years, the authorities had reasons for treating freethinking. There were plenty of reasons for this. The publication in the West of the poem collection “Spring Leaf”, the organization of a “publicity rally” with the requirements of open court hearings in the case of Sinyavsky and Daniel and the strict observance of articles of the constitution. In the late 60s, Esenin-Volpin, after another stay in a psychiatric institution, was forced to emigrate to America.

Human rights work has become one of the most important deeds of his life, demonstrating his fearlessness, decency and perseverance. Without bending himself, he helped a lot. His memo with an algorithm of behavior in a situation of inevitable interrogations has helped many dissidents. It was he who proposed the paradoxical and effective principle of protecting human rights, which implies strict observance of Soviet laws.

"… Well, what can you do, since spring -
Inevitable season
And the goal alone is clear
The unreasonable goal is freedom! ”

In recent years, his activity has not decreased: his beloved mathematics, teaching, participation in human rights activities.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru