Public lifeיוסף ביגון

Iosif Begun

Iosif Begun is a former Soviet refusenik and prisoner of conscience who campaigned for the right of Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel.

born 1932Soviet Jewish refusenik activismImprisonment as a prisoner of ZionPublishing Jewish books in Russian

Born: 9 July 1932, Moscow
Occupation: human rights defender, writer, dissident, publisher

Iosif Begun was born in 1932 in Moscow

Begun was born in Moscow on 9 July 1932 and grew up there. He studied radio technology at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, graduating in 1957, and mathematics at Moscow State University, graduating in 1962. He earned a Candidate of Technical Sciences degree and worked as an electronics engineer and statistician.

In 1971 he lost his engineering job after applying to emigrate. He then taught Hebrew, was arrested for social parasitism and was exiled to Siberia. After two labor camp terms he was barred from Moscow and lived in Strunino, Vladimir Oblast.

In 1982 he was convicted of anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda for writing about the situation of Soviet Jews, and was sentenced to 7 years. His case led to protests in the West and diplomatic protests by the United States. After refusenik protests in Moscow, his release was announced in February 1987.

In January 1988 he and his family immigrated to Israel, and in May 1988 President Ronald Reagan hosted him at the White House. He settled in Jerusalem, was fully rehabilitated in 1992 and regained Russian citizenship in 2001. As of 2010 he ran a small publishing house that translated Jewish books into Russian.