Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn speaks to reporters in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1970 after collecting the 1970 Nobel Prize in literature. Solzhenitsyn, whose books chronicled the horrors of dictator Josef Stalin's slave labor camps, died of heart failure Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008. He was 89.

A woman lays flowers at the foot of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's bier, as he lays in state in Moscow, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008. Thousands of Russians braved a pelting rain to pay tribute to Solzhenitsyn in a ceremony for the author, dissident and patriot that had all the trappings of an official laying in state.

A flower tribute is seen on the ground outside an entrance to Alexander Solzhenitsyn's house in Moscow on Monday, Aug. 4, 2008. The response to Solzhenitsyn's death was muted in Russia. The author, who spent 20 years of exile in the West following his expulsion from the Soviet Union in 1974, evoked little sympathy among those with fond memories of the Communist era.

An unidentified woman brings flowers to an entrance to Alexander Solzhenitsyn's house in Moscow on Monday, Aug. 4, 2008. Solzhenitsyn's nonfiction trilogy, "The Gulag Archipelago," published in the 1970s, shocked the Soviet elite, helped destroy lingering support for the Soviet experiment in the West and inspired a generation of dissidents in the Soviet Union.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, visits Alexander Solzhenitsyn in his house near Moscow, June 12, 2007. In the background are Solzhenitsyn's sons, Stepan, far left, and Yermolai (red striped tie). Solzhenitsyn's death left a complex legacy -- vividly intense books standing up for human dignity and free thought, but support for Putin, widely criticized as pushing Russia back into repressive ways.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn closes his eyes during his speech Dec. 11, 1998, in a Moscow theater where he rejected the top cultural award granted by President Boris Yeltsin. Born Dec. 11, 1918, Solzhenitsyn served as a front-line artillery captain in World War II, then in the war's closing weeks was arrested for calling Stalin "the man with the mustache" in a letter to a friend. He was sentenced to eight years in labor camps.

Writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, left, speaks at the Swedish Embassy Dec. 10, 1998, where he and other Nobel laureates were feted in Moscow. After being released from the labor camps, he served three years of exile in Kazakhstan. It was during this period that he began to write, and continued to do so while working as a mathematics teacher.

Writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, left, speaks with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as Swedish Ambassador Sven Hirdman, center, looks on Dec. 10, 1998, at the Swedish Embassy where Solzhenitsyn and other Nobel laureates are feted in Moscow. In his first official address since returning to Russia from 20 years exile, Solzhenitsyn spoke of the Russian social situation.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn speaks in the Duma, the Russian parliament's lower chamber in Moscow, Oct. 28, 1994, with the state flag in the background. His first book, "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch," was published in 1962 on Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's order. The book created a sensation in a country where unpleasant truths were spoken in whispers, if at all.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn speaks in the Duma, the Russian parliament's lower chamber in Moscow, Oct. 28, 1994, with the state flag in the background.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn jokes with the media as he leaves his long-time home in Cavendish, Vt., May 24, 1994, to return to his native Russia.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn in Paris Sept. 17, 1993.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn waits to receive an honorary Doctor of Letters at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., June 10, 1991.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, center rear, is seen in Brattleboro, Vt., Dec. 13, 1983, during a piano recital for his son, Ignat Solzhenitsyn, right. At left is his son, Stepan Solzhenitsyn and behind Stepan is Solzhenitsyn 's wife, Natalya.

Writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn plays tennis July 30, 1975, at Norwich University in Northfield, Vt. The exiled author spent four days in seclusion at the campus to write an article on the Russian Orthodox Church.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn gives his first news conference in the West since being expelled from Russia earlier in the year, Nov. 16, 1974, calling for a campaign of passive resistance to Communist rule and ideology, at his home in Zurich.

Author Alexander Solzhenitsyn in 1962.

Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn is seen after his liberation from the Soviet gulag system in 1953.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn during his deportation in 1946.

Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn is seen as a captain in the Soviet Army in 1944.