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    - BOO - Soviet dissidents: interviews conducted by Dr Philip Boobbyer

Ref No	UKA/STA/2/BOO/5
Collection	University of Kent Archive
Title	Leonid Plyushch (1938-2015)
Name of creator	Philip Boobbyer
Date	March 1997
Duration	88 min. 52 sec.
Extent	2 audio files - Broadcast WAVE Format (BWF)
Description	Interview with Leonid Plyushch by Philip Boobbyer. Leonid Plyushch was a Ukrainian mathematician who was for a time involved in the Soviet space programme. He was a founder member of the Initiative Group for the Defence of Human Rights in the USSR. After being put on trial in 1972, he was confined for a time in a psychiatric hospital. After exile to the West in 1976, he lived in Paris. He joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in 1977. He wrote a memoir, History’s Carnival (London: 1979). Subjects covered include: his commitment to revolutionary ideals; disillusionment with Stalinism; crisis following 20th Party Congress; wish to avoid being manipulated; long-term adherence to Marxism; atheism; decision to do scientific work; why he was wary of joining the Communist Party; experience of cooperation with the KGB at university; being in psychiatric hospital; stirrings of religious belief in prison; the nature of fanaticism; why it is important to avoid bitterness; the nature of personality; matters connected to Ukraine and Ukrainian identity; the nature of the dissident movement; having irrational fears; lying, dishonesty and truthfulness; how dishonesty in private life can lead to dishonesty in public life; the need to avoid self-deception; turning bad things into good. Place and date of interview: Paris, March 1997 The interview runs to 47:17 on side A and 41:35 on side B.
Notes	Digitised to LPCM wave 32 bit 48kHz. Digitised using Tascam 202 Mk VII Cassette Deck, Roland Rubix 22, and Adobe Audition.
Admin history	Created by Philip Boobbyer in the process of his research in 1996/97. Interviews were conducted in Moscow and Paris. Philip contacted Special Collections and Archives in 2022 to request digitisation of the tapes and to offer digital copies for the University of Kent archive. This was in light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Additional tapes were digitised in late 2022 and early 2023 as part of Dr Boobbyer's research project on 'Interviews on conscience and Soviet dissent' with the charitable trust Anglo-Nordic Productions Trust.. Digital audio files will be made publically available by Philip using Soundcloud (link to be added to this record when live).
Access filename	UKA-STA-002-BOO-005-A-A
Access filename	UKA-STA-002-BOO-005-B-A
Category	Audio recordings
Access conditions	Available for consultation at the University of Kent's Special Collections & Archives reading room, Templeman Library, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NU. Access is available via digital listening copies. The University of Kent acknowledges the intellectual property rights of those named as contributors in this recording and the rights of those not identified.
Copyright	Material within the archive may remain within copyright under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Special Collections & Archives staff will assist where possible in helping trace copyright holders, but it is ultimately the responsibility of users to obtain the permission of the copyright holder for reproduction of copyright material for uses other than research or private study.
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