Natan Sharansky

Natan Sharansky, born Anatoly Borisovich Shcharansky on January 20, 1948, in Stalino (now Donetsk), Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, endured a challenging early life under Soviet rule. His father worked as a journalist, and his mother, Ida Milgrom, tirelessly campaigned for his release from Soviet imprisonment. Sharansky displayed early intellectual promise, becoming a chess prodigy and winning the championship in Donetsk at age 15. He later earned a degree in applied mathematics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Following his graduation, Sharansky worked for a secret state research laboratory before becoming a prominent refusenik and human rights activist.

In 1973, Sharansky was denied an exit visa to Israel. He subsequently became a translator for Andrei Sakharov and a spokesman for the Moscow Helsinki Group, advocating for refuseniks’ rights. His activism led to his arrest by the KGB on March 15, 1977, on charges of high treason and spying, resulting in a 13-year sentence to forced labor. During his nine years of imprisonment in various Soviet facilities, including Lefortovo Prison and Perm 35, he engaged in hunger strikes to protest the confiscation of his mail and was force-fed numerous times.

After an international campaign led by his wife, Avital Sharansky, he was released on February 11, 1986, as part of a prisoner exchange, becoming the first political prisoner freed by Mikhail Gorbachev. Upon his emigration to Israel, he adopted the Hebrew name Natan and simplified his surname. He transitioned into Israeli politics, co-founding the Yisrael BaAliyah party in 1995 to represent Soviet immigrants. He held various ministerial positions, including Minister of Industry and Trade (1996-1999), Minister of Internal Affairs (1999-2000), Deputy Prime Minister (2001-2003), Minister of Housing and Construction (2001-2003), and Minister of Jerusalem Affairs (2003-2005). Sharansky resigned from the cabinet in 2005 to protest the disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank. He continued his public service as Chairman of the Executive for the Jewish Agency (2009-2018) and Chairman for the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP).