Sergei Kovalev
| Sergei Adamovich Kovalev | |
|---|---|
Sergei Kovalyov in 2011
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| Native name | Сергей Адамович Ковалёв |
| Born |
2 March 1930 Seredyna-Buda, Ukrainian SSR |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Citizenship |
 Soviet Union (1930–1991) →  Russian Federation (1991–present) |
| Alma mater | Moscow State University |
| Occupation | biophysicist, politician |
| Known for | human rights activism with participation in the Action Group for the Defense of Human Rights in the USSR, Moscow Helsinki Group, Memorial and the Moscow branch of Amnesty International |
| Movement | dissident movement in the Soviet Union |
| Awards | Geuzenpenning, Légion d'honneur, Sakharov Prize, Victor Gollancz Prize, Olof Palme Prize, Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Lithuanian Freedom Award |
Sergei Adamovich Kovalyov (also spelled Sergey Kovalev; Russian: Серге́й Ада́мович Ковалёв; born 2 March 1930, Seredyna-Buda, Ukrainian SSR) is a Russian human rights activist and politician and a former Soviet dissident and political prisoner.
Kovalyov was born in the town of Seredyna-Buda in Ukraine, near Sumy. In 1932, his family moved to Podlipki village near Moscow. In 1954, he graduated from Moscow State University. He was awarded a PhD in biophysics in 1964. As a biophysicist, Kovalyov authored more than 60 scientific publications. From mid-1950s, he opposed Trofim Lysenko's theories favored by the ruling Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Kovalyov was one of a group of activists who set up the Action Group for the Defense of Human Rights in the USSR in 1969, the first such independent body in the Soviet Union. While the 14 members of the group and 38 supporters signed their Appeal to the UN Human Rights Commission a number of them were also becoming involved in the samizdat (self-published) human rights bulletin, the Chronicle of Current Events (1968–1983). The members of the Action Group came under pressure from the authorities and ceased their activities.
In 1969, he signed An Appeal to The UN Committee for Human Rights. Kovalev signed statements and appeals in defense of Vladimir Bukovsky, Mustafa Dzhemilev, Pyotr Grigorenko, Viktor Khaustov, Viktor Nekipelov, Leonid Plyushch, Yuri Shikhanovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Gabriel Superfin.
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