Andrei Dmitriyevich Sakharov

Sakharov, Andrei Dmitriyevich (1921–90), Soviet physicist and human-rights proponent. He played a prominent part in the development of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb (1948–56). He subsequently advocated worldwide nuclear disarmament (for which he was awarded the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize) and became a leading Soviet dissident. His subsequent banishment (1980) to the city of Gorki provoked international protest. He was pardoned in 1986.

See also: Nuclear weapon.