Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov[needs russian IPA] (Russian: Андре й Дми триевич Са харов; May 21, 1921 – December 14, 1989) was a Russian nuclear physicist, Soviet dissident and human rights activist. He became renowned as the designer of the Soviet Union's Third Idea, a codename for Soviet development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov later became an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the Soviet Union, for which he faced state persecution; these efforts earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975. The Sakharov Prize, which is awarded annually by the European Parliament for people and organizations dedicated to human rights and freedoms, is named in his honour.