The Nobe Prize Laureate who opened the windows to the west with information about the cursed methods of government has died on Sunday, August 3, 2008 in Moscow.
His works mostly chronicled the labor camps of Stalinist Russia where he had also spent eight years in the gulag. His award for writing about these things earned him imprisonment, torture and exile from his homeland.
This Russian literary giant opened the eyes of the world to the brutality of Stalin's labor camps. During Gorbachev's term in office he negotiated his return to his homeland. Ironically, he experienced going from outcast to becoming a hero - somewhat of a reflection of the suffering and triumph experienced by 20th century Russia.
More recently, Solzhenitsyn received an award from then president Vladimir Putin, but continued to criticize the new Russia for its corruption and lack of true democracy. His words will live on long after him.
