Leonid Plyushch (1938-2015) 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. March 1997