Eduard Kuznetsov (dissident)

Eduard Kuznetsov
Kuznetsov in 2009
Native name
אדוארד קוזנצוב
Born(1939-01-29)29 January 1939
Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR
Died22 December 2024(2024-12-22) (aged 85)
Israel
Alma materMoscow State University
Literary movementHuman rights movement in the Soviet Union
Years active1958–2018
Notable works
    • Prison Diaries (1973)
    • Mordovian Marathon (1979)
    • Russian Romance (1984)

Eduard Samoilovich Kuznetsov (Russian: Эдуа́рд Само́йлович Кузнецо́в, Hebrew: אדוארד קוזנצוב; 29 January 1939 – 22 December 2024) was a Soviet-Israeli dissident, refusenik, journalist, and writer. One of the leaders of the 1970 Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair, Kuznetsov's case drew international attention following his death sentence. As a result of global protests, his sentence was commuted to fifteen years' imprisonment.

Kuznetsov was released in 1979 as part of a prisoner exchange between the Soviet Union and the United States. He subsequently made aliyah to Israel. Throughout the 1980s, he participated in the operations of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty before beginning the publication of the Russian-language Vesti in 1992. Kuznetsov is the author of three novels, two of which were written in prison and smuggled out of the country.

Kuznetsov died in Israel on 22 December 2024, at the age of 85.