Yelena Bonner
| Yelena Georgievna Bonner | |
|---|---|
Yelena Bonner and Andrei Sakharov after their arrival for the conferment of the honorary doctorate in law from the University of Groningen, 15 June 1989
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| Native name | Елена Георгиевна Боннэр |
| Born |
Lusik Georgievna Alikhanova February 15, 1923 Merv, Turkmen SSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | June 18, 2011 (aged 88) Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Nationality | Armenian |
| Citizenship |
 Soviet Union (1923–1991),  Russian Federation (1991–2011) |
| Alma mater | Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, First Pavlov State Medical University of St. Peterburg |
| Occupation | nurse during World War II, physician, human right activist |
| Known for | Human rights activism, participation in the Moscow Helsinki Group |
| Movement | Dissident movement in the Soviet Union |
| Spouse(s) | Andrei Sakharov (1972–1989; his death) |
| Children | Tatyana Yankelevich |
| Awards |
Rafto Prize Robert Schuman Medal Giuseppe Motta Medal Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom |
Yelena Georgievna Bonner (Russian: Еле́на Гео́ргиевна Бо́ннэр; 15 February 1923 – 18 June 2011) was a human rights activist in the former Soviet Union and wife of the noted physicist Andrei Sakharov. During her decades as a dissident, Bonner was noted for her characteristic blunt honesty and courage.
Bonner was born Lusik Georgievna Alikhanova in Merv, Turkmen SSR, USSR (now Mary, Turkmenistan). Her father, Georgy Alikhanov (Armenian name Gevork Alikhanyan), was an Armenian who founded the Soviet Armenian Communist Party, and was a highly placed member of the Comintern; her mother, Ruf (Ruth Bonner), was a Jewish Communist activist. She had a younger brother, Igor, who became a career naval officer. Her family had a summer dacha in Sestroretsk and Bonner had fond memories there.
In 1937, Bonner's father was arrested by the NKVD and executed as part of Stalin's Great Purge; her mother was arrested a few days later, and served eight years in the Gulag near Karaganda, Kazakhstan, followed by nine years of internal exile. Bonner's 41-year-old maternal uncle, Matvei Bonner, was also executed during the purge, and his wife internally exiled. All four were exonerated (rehabilitated) following Stalin's death in 1953. Serving as a nurse during World War II, Bonner was wounded twice, and in 1946 was honorably discharged as a disabled veteran. After the war she earned a degree in pediatrics from the First Leningrad Medical Institute, presently First Pavlov State Medical University of St. Peterburg.
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