Vladimir Voinovich

Russian writer and former Soviet dissident, noted as the "first genuine comic writer" produced by the Soviet system. Among his most well-known works are the satirical epic The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin and the dystopian Moscow 2042. He was forced into exile and stripped of his citizenship by Soviet authorities in 1980 but later rehabilitated and moved back to Moscow in 1990. After the fall of the Soviet Union, he continued to be an outspoken critic of Russian politics under the rule of Vladimir Putin.

Voinovich was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation for 2000, for his book Monumental propaganda about Soviet Neo-Stalinist legacy sitting in the subconscious of almost every citizen of the "free Russia". He also received Andrei Sakharov Prize for Writer's Civic Courage (2002).

Vladimir Voinovich published his memoirs in 2010. He died on 27 July 2018 at age 85 in Moscow.