Sofiya Kalistratova
Sofiya Kalistratova | |
|---|---|
| Софья Каллистратова | |
dissident movement in the Soviet Union |
Sofiya Vasilyevna Kalistratova (Russian: Со́фья Васи́льевна Калистра́това), also known as Sofia Kallistratova (Софья Каллистратова; 19 September [O.S. 6 September] 1907, Rylsk – 5 December 1989, Moscow) was a public defense lawyer in the Soviet Union. She defended various Soviet dissidents and from 1977 was a member of the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG), distributing information about human rights violations in the Soviet Union.
Biography
.
Born in the town of Rylsk, she graduated from the Moscow State University, specializing in the field of law. Unable to find a position in prosecutor's office, she began her activity as public defender at the Moscow College of Advocates (Московская Коллегия адвокатов). According to rumors, in the 1960s, the officer who was issuing her with a new passport, misspelled the last name "Kallistratova" as "Kalistratova". Sofiya did not make a big deal out of it and signed the documents as Kalistratova ever since.[1]
She joined the Moscow Helsinki Group as a legal consultant. The KGB searched Kalistratova's apartment several times and confiscated typewriters and documents. Some of Kalistratova's friends were arrested. The activity of the Moscow Helsinki Group became nearly impossible when Yuri Andropov started his campaign of repression against dissidents.[2] Supporters claim that all their work defending the human right to obtain, discuss, and distribute information was legal.[3][4][5]
As many other human rights defenders, she was accused of Anti-Sovietism; the charges were later dropped. In 1987, she tried to initiate a campaign for amnesty for political prisoners.[6]
During
Death
Kalistratova died in 1989 and was interred in Vostryakovskoye Cemetery in Moscow. For her activism, she was awarded the medal of the Guild of Russian Advocates. In 2003, a book about her life was published.[9][10][11]
Works
- Kallistratova, Sofia (July–September 1977). "Comments on the draft Constitution". A Chronicle of Human Rights in the USSR (27): 56–64.
References
- ^ a b Kristina Gorelik. У правозащитного движения женское лицо.
- ^ Letter from Yuri Andropov to the Central Committee (10 July 1970) Archived 11 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Documents Library - OSCE". Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2007.
- ^ "UNHCHR Resources and Information". ww1.unhchr.ch.
- ^ Conference on Security And Co-Operation in Europe Final Act. Helsinki, 1975.]
- ^ Alexander Podrabinek (2015). Наша кампания за амнистию [Our campaign for amnesty]. Zvezda (in Russian) (4). Retrieved 2 September 2015.
- ^ "Open letter to writer Chingiz Aitmatov, 5 May 1986; in Russian: С. В. Калистратова. Открытое письмо писателю Чингизу Айтматову". /www.memo.ru.
- ^ Kim, Yuly. "Удивительная женщина (статья с текстом "Адвокатского вальса")" [Wonderful woman. (An article with the text of Advocatory waltz)] (in Russian). Memorial.
- ^ "Страница 1 из 75: Заступница: Адвокат С.В. Каллистратова - сост. Печуро Е." lib.web-malina.com.
- ^ "Публичная Электронная Библиотека » сост. Печуро Е. » Заступница: Адвокат С.В. Каллистратова". lib.prometey.org.
- ^ http://bibliotera.org.ua/book.php?id=1153866711&s=81 [dead link]
External links
Media related to Sofia Kalistratova at Wikimedia Commons- New York Times article, 29 July 1985
- Moscow Helsinki Group website (in Russian)
- Софья Васильевна Каллистратова (in Russian)
