Sakharov: Foreigners Who Visited Keio University

2016/06/06

Sakharov on the podium in Classroom 518

Andrei Sakharov (1921–1989), the Soviet physicist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975, visited the Juku with his wife on October 26, 1989. On this day, Sakharov was conferred the title of Honorary Doctor of Keio University by President Tadao Ishikawa at the Honorary Doctorate Conferral Ceremony held at the Mita Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall) starting at 10:00. Following this, he gave a commemorative lecture for an hour and a half from 10:40 in Classroom 518 of the West School Building, attended a reception in the Large Conference Room of the Old Library from 12:20, and then left the Juku.

The conferral of the 24th honorary doctorate for Keio University was decided by the University Council following deliberations by the Faculty of Law Faculty Council, based on an inquiry from Yasuo Suzuki, an editorial writer for the Yomiuri Shimbun, to Vice-President Saburo Matsumoto. In the recommendation letter written by Professor Toshiro Tanaka of the Faculty of Law, he was evaluated as "not only an outstanding scientist but also a scholar who has fought for many years for world peace, the protection of national human rights, and the democratization of society with indomitable fighting spirit, even while facing oppression from power."

The lecture, titled "Perestroika and the Reality of the Soviet Union: Through the Eyes of a People's Deputy," was conducted with interpretation by Ms. Mari Yonehara. Sakharov discussed the problems facing Soviet society, and while praising General Secretary Gorbachev for starting Perestroika (restructuring), he stated that the actual movements were completely insufficient. He spoke of past mistakes and flaws, expressed his determination to overcome them and move forward, and said that cooperation would become possible if Western countries understood the situation in the Soviet Union. Detailed contents are preserved in the January 1990 issue of this magazine. Newspaper reports the following day stated that more than 1,000 people gathered for the lecture in a venue for 800, with some standing. In a brief conversation before leaving the venue, I asked him if he would like to visit the Department of Physics if he had time, but he replied, "My schedule is packed this time, so perhaps during my next visit to Japan."

He visited Japan for the first time after being invited to the "2nd Nobel Prize Winners Japan Forum" organized by the Yomiuri Shimbun, accompanied by his wife, Elena Bonner. He arrived at Narita on October 25, and after the events at Keio University on the morning of the following day, he held a press conference at the Japan National Press Club in the afternoon. The forum began at the Imperial Hotel on the 27th, where he gave a lecture in the afternoon on "Perestroika and its Significance in World Affairs." In response to a question, he answered, "Considering the depletion of coal and oil, we have no choice but to use nuclear power. For safety, everything should be underground." He met Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu and others at a reception in the evening. On the 28th, after sightseeing in Asakusa, he spoke on "Perestroika and Soviet Society" at the Peace Prize subcommittee, one of five venues in Tokyo, and in response to questions, stated, "The Soviet hydrogen bomb prevented the outbreak of World War III. However, the threat to the survival of humanity has increased. If a peaceful resolution to conflicts is achieved, nuclear weapons can be abolished."

On Sunday the 29th, he visited Kamakura. On the morning of the 30th, he conversed with the Emperor and Empress at the Akasaka Temporary Imperial Residence, and moved to Sapporo by air in the afternoon. On the 31st, he spoke on "Scientific Progress and the Future of Humanity" at a panel discussion held at the Sapporo Grand Hotel in the morning. On the afternoon of November 1st, he concluded a series of events by speaking to young people on the theme of "Youth, People, and the Future" at the humanities venue of Hokkaido Sapporo Kita High School.

Afterward, he moved to Fukuoka and gave a lecture on "Perestroika and Me" at the "Sakharov Special Lecture" on the 3rd. On the 4th in Hiroshima, after offering paper cranes at the Atomic Bomb Dome, he earnestly toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and wrote in the guestbook, "My heart is tightened with pain. We must all vow that such a thing will never be repeated." In the afternoon of that day, he attended a panel discussion titled "Around Dr. Sakharov: Talking about Hiroshima and the World" with Mayor Takeshi Araki and Kyoto University Professor Toru Yano.

Returning to Tokyo on the 6th, he gave a lecture to physicists titled "The Current Situation of the Soviet Union" at the INS Colloquium of the Institute for Nuclear Study, University of Tokyo. He criticized the current state of Soviet scientific research and education and showed a dark view of Soviet society. During his stay in Japan, Sakharov, who reportedly went as far as saying he "wanted to appeal directly to Prime Minister Kaifu" regarding the forced deportation of refugee applicants from Japan, continued to speak passionately about the ongoing Perestroika with the protection of human rights as the core, and left Narita for home on the morning of the 8th.

From late June 1948, Sakharov was involved in the development of hydrogen bomb explosive devices in the secret city of Arzamas-16. The Soviet Union conducted its first hydrogen bomb test (a fusion bomb using uranium or plutonium fission as a trigger) at Semipalatinsk on August 12, 1953; a fission-fusion-fission bomb test similar to the Bikini H-bomb on November 22, 1955; and the largest test in history, a 50-megaton hydrogen bomb, on Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Ocean on October 30, 1961. In recognition of these contributions, Sakharov was elected a full member of the Academy of Sciences in October 1953 at the young age of 32, and was awarded the titles of Hero of Socialist Labor and the Stalin Prize at the end of that year, a second Hero of Socialist Labor and the Lenin Prize in October 1956, and a third Hero of Socialist Labor in 1962.

Later, his research themes shifted to missile defense and countermeasures, through which he gradually came to consider the dangers of nuclear war. After participating in a signature drive against the rehabilitation of Stalin in 1966, his involvement in dissident activities grew stronger. In 1968, he published "Progress, Coexistence, and Intellectual Freedom" through illegal samizdat (underground publishing), arguing that "the division of mankind threatens it with destruction" and that "intellectual freedom is necessary," citing various dangers and calling for cooperation for peace. This work was introduced by a Dutch newspaper on June 6 and by The New York Times on July 11, and was published and widely read worldwide, including in Japanese translation. As a result of these actions, Sakharov was excluded from secret research in July 1968, and in August 1969, he returned to the Lebedev Physical Institute, where he had been before joining military research.

Sakharov's activities against the abuse of power and human rights violations in the Soviet Union continued without pause, and for these activities, he was awarded the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize. He was not permitted by the government to leave the country to attend the award ceremony; his wife, who happened to be in Italy for eye treatment, attended the ceremony on her husband's behalf and read his acceptance speech.

The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979. Sakharov, in a telephone interview with a West German newspaper on New Year's Day 1980, replied that withdrawal from Afghanistan was urgent. In response, on January 8, he was stripped of his Hero of Socialist Labor titles and all state awards, and was immediately exiled to the city of Gorky, which was closed to foreigners. His wife was also sentenced to five years of internal exile in 1984. The harsh treatment inflicted on the two, including threats to their lives, is detailed in Sakharov's and his wife's memoirs, "Memoirs" and "Alone Together," as well as in "The KGB File of Andrei Sakharov," which became clear through information disclosure after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

After Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985 and began Perestroika and Glasnost (information disclosure), the suspension of Sakharov's exile order and a pardon for his wife were realized, and they returned to Moscow on December 23, 1986. In October 1988, there was a by-election for members of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences, and Sakharov was elected. At the same time, the Politburo of the Communist Party lifted the ban on Sakharov leaving the country.

I first met Sakharov at the 39th Pugwash Conference held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, in July 1989. On the first day of the conference, he spoke frankly about the reality of the Soviet Union in a talk titled "Despair and Hope." This was three months before his visit to Japan.

Just before that, in April 1989, Sakharov had been elected from the Academy of Sciences as a People's Deputy, equivalent to a member of parliament, and was at the forefront of promoting Perestroika. He called for the abolition of Article 6 of the 1977 Constitution, which was the basis for the one-party dictatorship of the Communist Party. His visit to Japan was during this period. The destruction of the Berlin Wall, which can be called a symbol of the end of the Cold War, occurred on November 10, two days after Sakharov returned from Japan. He was preparing to give a speech proposing the abolition of Article 6 of the Constitution at the 2nd Congress of People's Deputies on December 15, but died suddenly of a heart attack the night before. About 50,000 people attended his public funeral. Sakharov did not live to see the independence of the Baltic states in 1990, the abolition of the Warsaw Pact in 1991, or the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Since 1988, the European Parliament of the European Union (EU) has presented the Sakharov Prize (officially the "Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought") at the plenary session of the European Parliament every December to individuals or organizations outside the EU who have made dedicated efforts to protect human rights and freedom of thought. The American Physical Society has also awarded the Andrei Sakharov Prize biennially since 2006 to scientists, mainly physicists, who have contributed to the protection of human rights, based on donations from Sakharov's friends.

(Note: Sakharov the Physicist. Sakharov's father was a physics teacher and author. Sakharov, who entered the Department of Physics at Moscow University in 1938, graduated in 1942 during World War II with a major in "Defense Metallurgy" at his place of evacuation. He worked as an engineer at a munitions factory, distinguishing himself by developing one device after another. In January 1945, he became a graduate student at the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow and began research under Tamm (1958 Nobel Prize in Physics winner). After writing papers on cosmic rays and other topics, he researched plasma theory. From late June 1948, he was involved in military research such as hydrogen bomb development and remained at secret facilities until he was removed from military research in July 1968. He continued research in elementary particle theory and cosmology until 1982, but it can be said that his greatest achievement was research related to nuclear fusion based on plasma physics.)