May 12, 1924
Born Alexander Yesenin-Volpin. Mathematician, philosopher, poet, dissident, and human rights activist. Author of the phrase: "Respect your Constitution!" Son Sergei Yesenin.
Neither the state nor culture should have power over the beliefs of individuals!
Mother, an imagist poet Nadezhda Volpin, She met Yesenin in 1920. They lived together for a time in a common-law marriage. She became pregnant in 1923, made no claims, and moved to St. Petersburg to raise the child alone.
Sergei couldn't find the courage to come to me and explain himself: he obviously knew I wouldn't give in and have an abortion. But he didn't understand the main thing: that I didn't need a child to tie Sergei to my lap, but to ensure I had the strength to leave.
Sasha was a year and a half old when his father passed away. His mother believes he inherited his "special" distant look from him: “While rocking in the cradle, he would occasionally stare into the distance... This is not some kind of developed manner of avoiding others, but something innate.”
At the age of 16 I made a vow to myself never to lie. Vladimir Bukovsky He later said that the “disease” for which Volpin was “treated” in psychiatric clinics was called “pathological truthfulness.”
First of all, it's important to be honest. This means not lying or being a traitor. Sometimes this requires courage.
He graduated with honors from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics at Moscow State University. After completing his postgraduate studies and defending his dissertation on mathematical logic in 1949, he went to work in Chernivtsi
He was then arrested on the basis of a denunciation and accused of "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." Specifically, for reading his poems to his friends—"I Never Took a Plow," "Spring Leaf," and "The Raven":
I delved into the way of life of the people in whose country freedom is vile
Suddenly it sounded like there was a knock... Who's here so late? What nonsense?
And in doubt and in sadness I whispered: “That is hardly a friend,
All my friends have been sent away long ago... It would be nice if he was just a thief!”
And, delighted with hope, I said: “Come in, thief!”
Someone croaked: "Nevermore!"
He was declared insane and sent for compulsory treatment to the Leningrad Special Psychiatric Hospital. In the fall of 1950, he was exiled to the Karaganda region for five years as a "socially dangerous element." He was released in 1953 under an amnesty. He returned to Moscow.
In 1959, I was invited to To Warsaw I went to the symposium "On the Foundations of Mathematics and the Theory of Infinity" to give a talk on mathematical logic. They refused to issue me a passport, saying that "mentally disabled citizens of the USSR" were not allowed to travel abroad. I sent the text of the talk to Warsaw, which was read in my name, with a note that the authorities had prevented me from leaving.
At the same time, he sent abroad a collection of his poems and the “Free Philosophical Treatise” (published in New York in 1961).
There is no freedom of the press in Russia – but who will say that there is no freedom of thought either?
Afterwards, he again ended up in a mental hospital for two years, with a diagnosis of “sluggish schizophrenia.”
In 1965, he organized the "Glasnost Rally" in Moscow—the first protest demonstration in the post-war USSR. The main demand was an open trial for Sinyavsky and Daniel. Demonstrators held signs reading, "Respect the Soviet Constitution." Volpin's "Civic Appeal" was circulated:
It is incredible that the work of writers could constitute a state secret.
As a mathematician and philosopher, he held a position of extreme skepticism—a rejection of all abstract concepts (God, infinity, etc.) accepted on faith. He was a strict follower of formal logic. He later transferred this approach to the legal sphere.
In 1968, he was again committed to a mental hospital. Renowned mathematicians signed the "Letter of the 99" protesting the scientist's forced hospitalization.
In 1970, he joined the Human Rights Committee of the USSR. His "memo for those facing interrogation" circulated in samizdat. The key message: Soviet laws were perfectly adequate for a fair trial; the main thing was to force the authorities to comply with them.
In 1972, under pressure from the authorities, he emigrated to the United States. He was an emeritus professor at Boston University.
In 2005, he became the hero of a film Kara-Murza the Younger "They chose freedom."
He died in 2016 in the USA at the age of 92.
There's no need to believe in reason. For a thinking person, it's enough to be reasonable.
