Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn (December 11, 1918 – August 3, 2008) was a Russian novelist, dramatist and historian. Through his writings, he made the world aware of the Gulag, the Soviet Union’s labour camp system, and for these efforts, Solzhenitsyn was both awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970 and exiled from the Soviet Union in 1974.
He returned to Russia in 1994. He was the father of Ignat Solzhenitsyn, a well-known conductor and pianist. Solzhenitsyn died of heart failure near Moscow on August 3, 2008 at 23:45 local time, at the age of 89.
A burial service is due to be held at Donskoy Monastery, Moscow, on Wednesday, August 6, 2008.[18] He will be buried on the same date at the place chosen by him at Donskoye graveyard.
