Alexander Solzhenitsyn passed away on Sunday, August 3, 2008. He was a courageous author, and a voice of moral clarity in the world, writing books like A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The Gulag Archapelego. These books served to unveil for the world many of the atrocities that had taken and were taking place under the repressive and oppressive communist government of the day. In 1974, he was expelled from Russia for his writings, being labelled by many Soviets as a “traitor”.
He was asked once about the force of his writings, to which Solzhenitsyn responded: “The secret is that when you’ve been pitched head first into hell you just write about it.” The world was changed because he did just that.
For an excellent tribute to the life and influence of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, check out Al Mohler’s blog. Or, for more info, head over to Wikipedia.
Other sites with fitting tributes:
Desiring God (as only Piper can do)