Anatoly Ivanovich Koryagin (russian: Анато́лий Ива́нович Коря́гин, born 15 September 1938,

Kansk Kansk (russian: Канск) is a town in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on both banks of the Kan River. Population: History and economy Founded in 1628 as a Russian fort, it was transferred to its current location in 1636 and granted town st ...

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai ( rus, Красноя́рский край, r=Krasnoyarskiy kray, p=krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the third-largest city in Siber ...

) is a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

and

Soviet dissident Soviet dissidents were people who disagreed with certain features of Soviet ideology or with its entirety and who were willing to speak out against them. The term ''dissident'' was used in the Soviet Union in the period from the mid-1960s until ...

. He holds a

Candidate of Science Candidate of Sciences (russian: кандидат наук, translit=kandidat nauk) is the first of two doctoral level scientific degrees in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is formally classified as UNESCO's ISCED level 8, "d ...

degree (equivalent to PhD in the West). Along with others, he exposed

political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union There was systematic political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union, based on the interpretation of political opposition or dissent as a psychiatric problem. It was called "psychopathological mechanisms" of dissent. During the leadership ...

. He pointed out Russia constructed psychiatric prisons to punish dissidents.

Early career

Koryagin was born on 15 September 1938 in

(

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

). After graduating from the

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...

Medical Institute in 1963, Koryagin worked for 4 years as a psychiatrist in

Abakan Abakan (russian: Абака́н, p=ɐbɐˈkan; Khakas: , ''Ağban''/, ''Abaxan'') is the capital city of the Republic of Khakassia, Russia, located in the central part of Minusinsk Depression, at the confluence of the Yenisei and Abakan Rivers. ...

. In 1972 he successfully defended his doctoral thesis on apathetic aspects of

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

, and in the same year he became deputy head doctor of the regional psychiatric hospital in

Kyzyl Kyzyl (; Tuvan and russian: Кызыл; , ) is the capital city of the republic of Tuva, Russia. The name of the city means "red" or "crimson" in Tuvan (and in many other Turkic languages). Its population was History The city was founded in 1 ...

. In 1978 he became a consultant at the

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.hard labor, to be followed by 5 years of internal exile. The charge was

anti-Soviet Anti-Sovietism, anti-Soviet sentiment, called by Soviet authorities ''antisovetchina'' (russian: антисоветчина), refers to persons and activities actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the ...

activities for having corresponded with the British medical journal ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, ...

'', which published an article by Koryagin critical of the Soviet government's use of involuntary psychiatric confinement for political reasons. Koryagin was stripped of Soviet citizenship after publishing his article in which he accused the Soviets of interning sane people to psychiatric hospitals. Koryagin documented the existence of 16 special hospitals for dissidents and 183 political prisoners that were confined in them. The transcripts of his trial, which were published by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

in 1982, record the following statement he made: On 5 April 1981, the

Moscow Helsinki Group The Moscow Helsinki Group (also known as the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, russian: link=no, Московская Хельсинкская группа) is today one of Russia's leading human rights organisations. It was originally set up in 1976 ...

members

Yelena Bonner Yelena Georgiyevna Bonner (russian: link=no, Елена Георгиевна Боннэр; 15 February 1923 – 18 June 2011) ...

, Sofiya Kalistratova, Ivan Kovalyov,

Naum Meiman Naum Natanovich (Nokhim Sanalevich) Meiman (russian: Нау́м Ната́нович (Но́хим Са́нелевич) Ме́йман, 12 May 1912, Bazar, Ukraine – 31 March 2001, Tel Aviv) was a Soviet mathematician, and dissident. He is k ...

issued document No. 162 "The Arrest of Anatoly Koryagin" which stated,

Detention, recognition and later life

While held in the

Chistopol Chistopol (russian: Чи́стополь; tt-Cyrl, Чистай, ''Çistay''; cv, Чистай, ''Çistay'') is a town in Tatarstan, Russia, located on the left bank of the Kuybyshev Reservoir, on the Kama River. As of the 2010 Census, its p ...

prison, Koryagin often went on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

, and as a result he was forcibly fed and also drugged with

antipsychotic Antipsychotics, also known as neuroleptics, are a class of Psychiatric medication, psychotropic medication primarily used to manage psychosis (including delusions, hallucinations, paranoia or disordered thought), principally in schizophrenia but ...

medications. He was beaten in a punishment cell. He made notes that contained the description of his imprisonment and were translated into English by

Freedom House Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. According to Koryagin, Khasanov, head of the section where he was imprisoned, told him, "You'll die like a dog here." Koryagin managed to smuggle a letter to the West documenting his ordeal. The General Assembly of the

World Psychiatric Association The World Psychiatric Association is an international umbrella organisation of psychiatric societies. Objectives and goals Originally created to produce world psychiatric congresses, it has evolved to hold regional meetings, to promote profess ...

passed a resolution making Dr. Anatoly Koryagin an honorary individual member of the World Psychiatric Association for "demonstrating in the struggle against the perversion of psychiatry for nonmedical purposes, professional conscience, courage and devotion to duty, all in exceptional measure". The

American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are involve ...

elected him an honorary member while he was still imprisoned, and the Royal College of Psychiatry, which elected him a Fellow, addressed a letter to

Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (– 9 February 1984) was the sixth paramount leader of the Soviet Union and the fourth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After Leonid Brezhnev's 18-year rule, Andropov served in the po ...

requesting his release. In 1983, the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

bestowed him with the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award. Koryagin was eventually released on 19 February 1987 and emigrated to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

on 24 April 1987. Although he had been offered asylum in Switzerland, he initially refused because one of his sons had just been arrested, but finally emigrated to Switzerland with his entire family later that year after his son's release. During the

Glasnost ''Glasnost'' (; russian: link=no, гласность, ) has several general and specific meanings – a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information, the inadmissibility of hushing up problems, ...

period, he remained a vocal critic of the Soviet psychiatric system, and a harsh critic of torture. In 1987, Koryagin and his participation in

struggle against political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union In the Soviet Union, systematic political abuse of psychiatry took place and was based on the interpretation of political dissent as a psychiatric problem. It was called "psychopathological mechanisms" of dissent. During the leadership of Gene ...

became the subject of

Robert van Voren Robert van Voren (publishing pseudonym of Johannes Baks, nl, Johannes Bax, born 25 July 1959, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a Dutch human rights activist, sovietologist and historian. He is a professor of Soviet and post-Soviet studies in the I ...

's book ''Koryagin: A Man Struggling for Human Dignity''. In 1988, Koryagin sent the letter of appreciation for having been honoured with Fellowship in the

Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental health ...

to its President James Birley. In 1990, ''Psychiatric Bulletin of the

'' published the article ''Compulsion in psychiatry: blessing or curse?'' by Anatoly Koryagin. It contains eight arguments by which the existence of a system of political abuse of psychiatry in the

U.S.S.R. The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

can easily be demonstrated and analysis of the abuse of psychiatry. In 1995 Koryagin returned to

and lived in

Pereyaslavl-Zalessky Pereslavl-Zalessky ( rus, Переславль-Залесский, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈslavlʲ zɐˈlʲɛskʲɪj, lit. ''Pereslavl beyond the woods''), also known as Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located on the main Mosc ...

. Now he lives in

References

Some papers and interviews

* * * * * *

Video

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koryagin, Anatoly 1938 births Living people People from Kansk Russian psychiatrists Psychiatry academics Soviet dissidents Soviet human rights activists Russian human rights activists Soviet psychiatric abuse whistleblowers Soviet prisoners and detainees Soviet expellees People denaturalized by the Soviet Union Soviet emigrants to Switzerland Working Commission to Investigate the Use of Psychiatry for Political Purposes Fellows of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Russian emigrants to Switzerland

Early career

Detention, recognition and later life

References

Further reading

Some papers and interviews

Video