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Boris Rabbot and the "Shestidesiatniki:" The Forgotten Liberals of the 1960s

Boris Rabbot, a journalist and sociologist, was in the vanguard of the pre-perestroika "shestidesiatniks," influential intellectuals and party leaders who vigorously advocated a policy of liberalization within the Soviet system. His widow, Lynn Visson, Visiting Adjunct Professor and Visiting Associate, Monterey Graduate School Institute of Translation and Interpretation, retired UN interpreter and co-compiler of "Boris Rabbot: An Unheeded Voice of the 1960s," discussed how he and the intellectuals of his generation presaged the reformers of the Gorbachev era.

Date & Time

Monday
Feb. 25, 2013
12:00pm – 1:00pm ET

Location

6th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center
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Overview

Boris Rabbot, a journalist and sociologist, was in the vanguard of the pre-perestroika  "shestidesiatniks," influential intellectuals and  party leaders who vigorously advocated a policy of liberalization within the Soviet system. A high-level advisor to Central Committee member Alexei Rumyantsev, he crusaded for improved relations between Russia and the United States in the first half of the 1970s during the initial period of détente. Denounced politically as a result of his activities, he spent two years as a refusenik before receiving permission to emigrate in 1976 and went on to lecture and write widely in the United States. His widow, Lynn Visson, Visiting Adjunct Professor and Visiting Associate, Monterey Graduate School Institute of Translation and Interpretation, retired UN interpreter and co-compiler of Boris Rabbot: An Unheeded Voice of the 1960s, discussed how he and the intellectuals of his generation presaged the reformers of the Gorbachev era.

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Speaker

Lynn Visson

Visiting Adjunct Professor and Visiting Associate, Monterey Graduate School Institute of Translation and Interpretation, retired UN interpreter and co-compiler of Boris Rabbot: An Unheeded Voice of the 1960s
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Hosted By

Kennan Institute

The Kennan Institute is the premier US center for advanced research on Russia and Eurasia and the oldest and largest regional program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Kennan Institute is committed to improving American understanding of Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the surrounding region though research and exchange.  Read more

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