VZCZCXRO6495
OO RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #2312/01 2211212
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 081212Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9371
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 002312 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KDEM PINR SOCI RS
SUBJECT:  RUSSIA REMEMBERS SOLZHENITSYN 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: In bidding farewell to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 
Russia took a moment to honor a great writer and dissident, and 
remember an historical period often glossed over in this era of 
gangbuster economic growth and public trumpeting of Russia's 
resurgent geopolitical power and pride.  Prime Minister Vladimir 
Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev praised Solzhenitsyn's 
commitment to his country and principles of freedom.  The public 
viewing at the Russian Academy of Sciences and the high-level 
attendance at the funeral underscored Solzhenitsyn's stature as a 
historical figure, but his August 4 death provoked only limited 
reflection on his writings or the political system which exiled him 
in 1974.  Despite the official pomp and circumstance and heavy media 
coverage of his funeral, for most Russians Solzhenitsyn's death was 
simply a reminder of an era long past.  End Summary. 
 
 
The Dissident gets a State Funeral 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Solzhenitsyn had remained largely out of the public 
spotlight since his 1994 return to Russia and brief, unsuccessful 
foray on Russian television, but the Russian government spared 
little effort in arranging public events for his wake and funeral. 
Surrounded by a military color guard, portraits, official funerary 
wreaths as well as hundreds of flowers brought in ones and twos by 
mourners, Solzhenitsyn's open casket remained in the Russian Academy 
of Sciences (RAN) all day August 5.  Early in the day, Putin 
personally offered his condolences to the family and told the press 
that Solzhenitsyn's work should have a more prominent role in the 
national educational curricula.  Heavy rains may have discouraged 
some mourners from venturing out; when the Charge brought flowers to 
the viewing, only a handful of visitors were present.  The Charge 
expressed his sympathy to two of Solzhenitsyn's sons Stepan and 
Yermolai and noted that the author had been a bridge between our two 
countries. 
 
¶3.  (U) The August 5 funeral service led by Patriarch Alexei II at 
Donskoi Monastery drew larger crowds, including Moscow Mayor 
Luzhkov, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President 
Medvedev, who cut short his vacation to attend the funeral and was 
shown on television with tears in his eyes during the service.  The 
Charg appeared to be the only diplomatic emissary present. 
Hundreds of mourners, mostly aged 50 and older, passed by the casket 
during the two-hour liturgy and 75-minute funeral rites, and a crowd 
of around 2000 waited outside the cathedral.  State television 
broadcast the entire service live.  Earlier in the day, Medvedev 
signed a decree cementing Solzhenitsyn's legacy by naming a 
university scholarship, and streets in Moscow, Kislovodsk and 
Rostov-on-Don after Solzhenitsyn. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Mourners and friends had a chance to express their 
condolences at a second memorial event at the Russian Academy of 
Sciences immediately after the funeral service.  PolOff observed 
that in contrast to the wake and funeral, no one from the government 
attended and the guests -- largely older, poorly-dressed 
intelligentsia types -- could only enter with a ticket.  After an 
opening toast by RAN head Yuriy Osipov, people were invited to make 
their own remarks at a microphone in the center of the room across 
from the head table at which the extended family and several 
Orthodox priests sat.  Guests sat at tables spread with typical 
Russian banquet fare and toasted with vodka, water and wine or 
juice.  Several speakers called Solzhenitsyn and Sakharov the 
"conscience" of Russia.  The son of Soviet composer Dmitriy 
Shostakovich said his family only decided to come back to Russia 
once Solzhenitsyn had returned.  Solzhenitsyn's wife Natalya said 
that the most enduring memorial to him would be to fix all the 
insufficiencies and inadequacies in present-day Russia. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Public officials heaped praise on Solzhenitsyn but 
carefully avoided any comments about his political activism, or the 
circumstances under which Solzhenitsyn lost his citizenship and 
spent 17 years in exile.  President Medvedev wrote in his letter of 
condolences that Solzhenitsyn "served his country as a true citizen 
and patriot and ... cared wholeheartedly about Russia's reformation 
... His studies of the most dramatic parts of the Russian history 
made an enormous contribution to world culture."  Prime Minister 
Putin's letter of condolences stressed that "Solzhenitsyn's thorny 
life was an example of true service to the ideals of freedom, 
justice and humanism."  Moscow Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov told the press at 
Solzhenitsyn's funeral: "His expressions of concern about [Russia's 
future] were justified ... Solzhenitsyn was right: we have no future 
just living off oil and gas."  Finance Minister Kudrin declared 
Solzhenitsyn, along with Andrei Sakharov and Dmitry Likhachev, 
"Russia's moral compass." 
 
"He was our Homer" 
------------------ 
 
¶6.  (U) Some media commentary observed that despite being one of the 
great Russian writers, Solzhenitsyn's voice had lost some resonance 
and influence in post-Soviet Russia.  Vremya Novostey editorialized: 
 
MOSCOW 00002312  002 OF 002 
 
 
"Russians did not notice Solzhenitsyn after his return, and nothing 
suggests that they will after his death.  Still, authorities used 
him for their shifting political goals.  His views were suitable for 
the current Russian leadership.  Mass-circulation tabloid Argumenty 
I Fakty said: "Those who were in a hurry to express their respect 
[at the time he returned to Russia] would not listen to what he had 
to say about reforming Russia.  Solzhenitsyn said bitterly that 
'Russia chose the most tortuous and difficult way of parting with 
Communism.'  And we still have not reached the end of this tortuous 
path."  Interfax pointed out: "The epitaphs voiced from different 
political camps could not hide the obvious: Solzhenitsyn's political 
potential has not been called for since his return from immigration, 
and his attitude towards the state remained uncompromising and 
critical." 
 
¶7.  (SBU) But most coverage lionized Solzhenitsyn's historical 
significance in Russia and the world.  Liberal daily Gazeta ran this 
on the front page: "Several generations of thinking Russians could 
not imagine what their lives would have been without Solzhenitsyn. 
Words cannot describe what he was and what he did.  The words 
'writer' and 'public figure' are too specific and functional to 
attach to the name of Solzhenitsyn.  Of course, he was both.  Also, 
he was a historian and original thinker, but there is also something 
about him that defies definition.  To a majority of Russians, 
Solzhenitsyn is a symbol, one of the keys to what you could call a 
Russian cultural code."  On the front page of liberal Kommersant: 
"He was all he is called now, after his death - difficult, harsh, 
confusing, arrogant, humane, prophetic, scary, conflict-prone, 
unsociable, great, and naive.  He wasn't the sort of man everybody 
liked.  But his role in history is great - you can't overstate it. 
(Stage director) Yuriy Lyubimov said better than anyone else, 'He 
was our Homer.'" 
 
RUBIN