Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr

Russian author, born in Kislovodsk in the Caucasus and raised in Rostov. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn studied mathematics and physics at the university in Rostov, obtaining his degree in 1941. He also studied history, philosophy, and literature by correspondence. During the Second World War, he served as an artillery captain, but was arrested in 1945 for having criticized Stalin in letters. He was sentenced to eight years of penal servitude followed by exile in Kazakhstan, where he would work as a teacher for three years.