Natan Sharansky Biography Quotes 32 Report mistakes

32 Quotes
Occup.	Writer
From	Russia
Born	January 20, 1948
Age	77 years

Early Life and Education
Natan Sharansky was born in 1948 in the industrial city of Donetsk, then called Stalino, in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Growing up in a Jewish family under Soviet rule, he encountered an environment in which national and religious identities were pushed into the private sphere. He showed an early aptitude for mathematics and the sciences, and later trained as a mathematician and computer specialist in Moscow. Exposure to the moral and national awakening that followed the 1967 Six-Day War stirred in him a deep interest in Jewish history and identity, a turn that would soon evolve into public activism on behalf of emigration rights and human freedom.

Dissidence and the Struggle for Emigration
In the early 1970s, he applied to emigrate to Israel but was refused by the authorities, becoming one of the best-known Jewish refuseniks. Sharansky joined the emerging human rights movement in the Soviet Union, working closely with the physicist and Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov and Sakharov's wife, the activist Yelena Bonner. He became a spokesperson for Jewish emigration efforts and served as a liaison between dissidents and Western journalists and diplomats. When Yuri Orlov founded the Moscow Helsinki Group to hold the Soviet government accountable to its human rights commitments, Sharansky took part in documenting abuses. He stood alongside other refuseniks such as Vladimir Slepak and Ida Nudel, helping to coordinate petitions, press briefings, and appeals to the international community.

Marriage and Personal Resolve
In 1974 he married Avital (born Natalia), and, shortly thereafter, she was permitted to leave for Israel. Their separation became a defining feature of an international campaign. From Jerusalem and world capitals, Avital Sharansky tirelessly advocated for her husband's freedom, meeting political leaders, rallying communities, and sustaining the movement that kept his case in the headlines.

Arrest, Trial, and Imprisonment
Sharansky was arrested in 1977 by the KGB and charged with treason and espionage. His trial in 1978, widely regarded abroad as a show trial, ended with a 13-year sentence of prison and labor camp. He endured long stretches in solitary confinement and a punishing regime in strict prisons and camps. Even in those conditions, he insisted on the right to communicate with the outside world, conducted hunger strikes to protest abuses, and drew strength from prayer, study, and mental discipline. His name became a rallying cry for the refusenik movement and for a broader coalition of human rights advocates.

International Campaign and Release
A global network of activists and political figures placed his case at the center of East-West human rights diplomacy. In the United States, leaders such as President Ronald Reagan and Secretary of State George Shultz pressed the issue in talks with the Soviet leadership and highlighted the link between human rights and international relations. In the Soviet Union, the moral authority of Andrei Sakharov and Yelena Bonner helped keep the plight of prisoners of conscience alive. In Israel, prime ministers and opposition figures, including Menachem Begin, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Shamir, voiced support and received Avital Sharansky during her advocacy tours. In 1986, during the tenure of Mikhail Gorbachev, Sharansky was freed as part of a major East-West prisoner exchange on the Glienicke Bridge and immediately traveled to Israel, where he was reunited with Avital.

Aliyah to Israel and Public Life
Upon arriving in Israel, he adopted the Hebrew name Natan and quickly became a prominent public figure. He wrote and spoke about the inner life of political prisoners, the meaning of freedom, and the ethical responsibilities of democratic societies. His memoir, Fear No Evil, offered a first-person account of Soviet repression and the power of moral resistance, reaching a wide readership. He worked with organizations dedicated to integrating immigrants from the Soviet Union and strengthening ties between Israel and worldwide Jewry.

Political Career
In the mid-1990s, Sharansky co-founded the political party Yisrael BaAliyah with fellow former refusenik Yuli Edelstein, aiming to represent the interests of immigrants from the former Soviet Union and to contribute to Israel's broader social and strategic agenda. He entered the Knesset in 1996 and served in successive governments led by Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, and Ariel Sharon, holding cabinet posts that included, at various times, portfolios related to trade, housing, and Jerusalem affairs. Known for linking democracy and security, he argued that stable peace depended on the development of free institutions and civil society. In 2005, he resigned from the government over disagreements concerning unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, citing his belief that concessions should be tied to democratic reform and security guarantees.

Ideas, Writings, and Influence
Sharansky's writings extended his influence well beyond Israel. The Case for Democracy, co-authored with Ron Dermer, distilled his experience into a broader argument about the universality of freedom and the necessity of linking international legitimacy to democratic norms. The book resonated with policymakers and activists, and he engaged in dialogue with leaders around the world, including President George W. Bush, who later awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Earlier, the United States Congress had recognized his moral leadership with the Congressional Gold Medal. He also articulated what became known as the Sharansky test for modern anti-Semitism, warning against demonization, double standards, and delegitimization, and urging clarity in distinguishing criticism of policies from assaults on a people's right to self-determination.

Leadership of the Jewish Agency
From 2009 to 2018, Sharansky served as chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel, the leading organization connecting Israel with Jewish communities worldwide. In that role, he worked with Israeli governments and diaspora leaders to promote aliyah, strengthen Jewish identity, and address challenges facing communities in North America, Europe, and the former Soviet Union. During his tenure, he sought practical solutions to intra-Jewish tensions, including proposals to accommodate diverse streams of Jewish prayer at the Western Wall, working with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an array of communal stakeholders. After concluding his term, he was succeeded by Isaac Herzog, underscoring the continuity of leadership focused on the relationship between Israel and world Jewry.

Legacy
Natan Sharansky's life traces a path from the closed society of the Soviet Union to the open debates of Israeli democracy and the global public square. As a refusenik and prisoner of conscience, he stood with figures like Andrei Sakharov, Yelena Bonner, Yuri Orlov, Vladimir Slepak, and Ida Nudel in asserting the primacy of human rights. As an Israeli leader and author, he engaged with prime ministers and presidents, from Shimon Peres and Ariel Sharon to Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, translating lessons learned in confinement into a public philosophy centered on freedom and responsibility. His biography is inseparable from that of Avital Sharansky, whose advocacy sustained an international movement and whose partnership shaped his public mission. Together, they helped transform the cause of Soviet Jewry into a universal appeal for dignity, leaving an enduring imprint on democratic discourse and Jewish life.

Our collection contains 32 quotes who is written by Natan, under the main topics: Justice - Freedom - Peace - Human Rights - War.

Other people realated to Natan: Elie Wiesel (Novelist), Tom Lantos (Diplomat)

Natan Sharansky Famous Works