This spoon was used by Andrei Sakharov in the 1980s during the time he was banished to Nizhny Novgorod (then called Gorky).
Sakharov was a physicist but had been a human rights advocate since the 1960s. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975 for his efforts. The Soviet authorities prevented him from going to the award ceremony. To hamper his work, he was exiled to Nizhny Novgorod in 1980. The apartment where he lived was under constant surveillance from across the street.
Apart from visits from his wife, Yelena Bonner, he lived alone for long periods, cooking for himself. This traditional Russian wooden spoon was a utensil he used daily during his exile, for instance when he fried food in a Teflon pan, so as not to scratch it. One dish he liked to make was a kind of curd that he fried lightly, because he preferred hot food. He also used the spoon to make scrambled eggs.
The spoon was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by the Andrei Sakharov Foundation in 2025.
This glass holder was used by Andrei Sakharov in the 1950s and 1960s when he drank tea. The traditional Russian way of drinking tea was in a glass in a metal holder to avoid burning one's fingers. Tea was an essential part of Sakharov's daily life as a physicist and peace and human rights activist. A glass of tea had a given place on his desk. He used this glass holder at home in Moscow and may even have brought it with him during his frequent visits to Sarov (then called Arzamax-16) where he worked on the Soviet nuclear arms programme.
The glass holder was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by the Andrei Sakharov Foundation in 2025.
This slide rule was used frequently by Andrei Sakharov when he worked as a physicist. Sakharov has contributed significantly to basic research in physics and the development of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. He played a key role in the Soviet hydrogen bomb project. Beginning in the late 1950s, he expressed his concern over nuclear weapons and worked to limit their proliferation. Later on in life, he was also active as a human rights advocate.
The slide rule was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by the Andrei Sakharov Foundation in 2025.
