Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a Soviet era author who prided himself on exposing the Soviet government's gulags. He fought in WW2 and served as an artillery commander on the front. Afterwards, Solzhenitsyn found himself being sent to a labor camp for sending derogatory letters about the government to his friend. He was imprisoned in a few main camps, the first few inspired the novel, The first circle, which explained life in the worst of the labor camps, those located near the main village in the area. Here Solzhenitsyn lived out his time until he was moved to a camp for political prisoners, which inspired the novel One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich. This novel was a story that literally took place over the course of one day. It explained the hardships and monotony of working in gulags. Solzhenitsyn continued his work of trying to disrupt the Soviet government with unsuccessful attempts. He was eventually deported to Frankfurt where he continued to write about the tortures of labor camps. In 1990 his citizenship was restored and he made a return to Russia. On Aug, 3th 2008 Solzhenitsyn died of heart failure. Russian and world leaders culminated to honor his passing. His legacy lives on as being one of the most influential writers during the Soviet times and being a huge part of how people knew of the tortures of the gulag.