Iosif Begun

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Iosif Ziselovich Begun, sometimes spelled Yosef (born July 9, 1932, in

human rights activist
, author and translator. Over the course of 17 years, Begun was imprisoned three times and spent over eight years in prisons and
U.S. Government
.

Biography

Begun was born and grew up in Moscow,

electronics engineer and a statistician
.

From 1971 to 1988, Begun was repeatedly arrested for his political activities. He was dismissed from his job as an engineer in 1971 after having submitted an application to emigrate.

NCSJ and other Jewish organizations, and to U.S. diplomatic protestations. In the coverage of his case by various media outlets, he was described as a Jewish activist,[3] or, in one instance, as a "leader of the Jewish emigration movement."[4]

In February 1987 refusenik protests against Begun's continuing imprisonment took place on Arbat Street in downtown Moscow. The protesters, among them Begun's son Boris Begun, Begun's wife Inessa Begun, veteran refusenik Emilia Shrayer and other refuseniks, were attacked and beaten by KGB agents in plain sight of onlookers and foreign journalists.[5][6][7] Following the refusenik protests, Begun's release from prison was announced on February 16, 1987, by Georgy Arbatov, a member of the Central Committee, in a Face the Nation interview on CBS.[8]

In January 1988, a year after he was freed, Begun and his family were permitted to immigrate to Israel.[9] In May 1988, President Ronald Reagan invited and honored Iosif Begun at the White House.[10]

Begun's arrest, trial and imprisonment were followed and recorded by

honorary doctorate "in recognition of his continued struggle to make Aliyah."[13]

Begun settled in Jerusalem, and as of 2010 was running a small publishing house specializing in the translation of Jewish books into Russian.[14][15]

Legacy

See also

References

  1. Time Magazine
    . March 9, 1987.
  2. ^ a b c "Iosif Begun, a Defiant Man." The New York Times. February 13, 1987.
  3. ^ Bohlen, Celestine. "Soviet Shift on Visas Raises Hopes, Concerns of 'Refusedniks'." The Washington Post. April 18, 1985.
  4. ^ King, Wayne, and Irvin Molotsky. "Rally for a Soviet Jew." The New York Times. January 31, 1987.
  5. ^ Whittaker, Mark, with Robert B. Cullen. "Countering Gorbachev." Newsweek. February 23, 1987.
  6. ^ Shrayer, Maxim D. Leaving Russia: A Jewish Story. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 2013. pp. 248-257.
  7. ^ Goldstein, Steve. "Crowd Derides Moscow Protesters." The Philadelphia Inquirer. February 10, 1987.
  8. ^ Barringer, Felicity. "Soviet Announces A Jewish Dissident Has Been Released." The New York Times. February 16, 1987.
  9. ^ "Begun Leaves Soviet, Ending 17-Year Emigration Struggle." The New York Times. January 19, 1988.
  10. ^ Reagan, Ronald. "Remarks at a White House Briefing on Religious Freedom in the Soviet Union." May 3, 1988. Accessible from Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. In the official photograph, Begun is on the right.
  11. ^ A Chronicle of Current Events.(PDF)
  12. NCSJ
    , December 23, 2001.
  13. ^ Honorary Doctorate Conferees
  14. ^ Mark, Jonathan. "An Outlaw in Autumn: Yosef Begun, the old prisoner of Zion, still defiant." The Jewish Week. May 18, 2010.
  15. ^ Kraft, Dina. Yosef Begun making up for lost time." Jewish Telegraphic Agency. November 20, 2007. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  16. Townhall.com
    , March 3, 2011.
  17. ^ Soviet Refusnik Yosef Begun Addresses 11th and 12th Grade
  18. ^ Text of Elie Wiesel's acceptance speech, PBS
  19. ^ Review in the Jewish Magazine, August 2008.
  20. ^ Russian Division Author Event: The Refusenik Movement: From the Outside and Inside
  21. ^ "Yosef Begun- One of the Greatest Refusenik "Outlaws" of the Last Century". Archived from the original on 2011-08-12. Retrieved 2011-04-17.

Further reading

External links

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