ANN ARBOR—Russian human rights activist and parliamentarian Sergei A. Kovalyev will speak at the University of Michigan at two free, public events Feb. 20-21.

Kovalyev is a current member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, former head of past President Boris Yeltsin’s Human Rights Commission, and an outspoken critic of Russia’s policy in Chechnya. He spent 10 years in Soviet prisons and internal exile beginning in 1974—including five years at Perm-36, a notorious Gulag labor camp where many leading Soviet dissidents were imprisoned.

Kovalyev will speak at a colloquium on “The Perm-36 Gulag Museum: The Unique Challenges and Opportunities in Creating a Comprehensive Museum to Commemorate Victims of Repression” at 3-6 p.m. Feb 20 in Room 2147, Art and Architecture Building. Victor A. Shmyrov, director of the Gulag Museum and professor of history at Perm State Pedagogical University, and Anatole Senkevitch, U-M associate professor of architecture and the history of art, also will take part.

Both Kovalyev and Shmyrov will participate in a panel discussion on “Chechnya: War, Politics, and Empire in the New Russia” at 4-6 p.m. Feb. 21 in Schorling Auditorium, School of Education Building. They will be joined by Georgi Derluguian, assistant professor of sociology at Northwestern University; Stephanie Platz, U-M assistant professor of history; and Jane Burbank, U-M professor of history.

For more information, contact the U-M Center for Russian and East European Studies at (734) 764-0351 or by e-mail at [email protected].

State DumaPerm-36 Gulag MuseumGeorgi DerluguianCenter for Russian and East European Studies