Viktor Fainberg
Encyclopedia
Viktor Isaakovich Fainberg (b. 1931, Kharkov) is a philologist, prominent figure of the dissident movement in the Soviet Union, participant of the 1968 Red Square demonstration
, and fighter against punitive psychiatry.
He was born to the married couple of Isaac Fainberg and Sarah Dashevskaya. In his life as a child, while attending school during an antisemitic campaign of 1948-1952
, he was subjected to harassment that, in his own words, he did not reconcile himself to, but entered the fray with an abuser. As the result of these frays, he got a referral to a psychiatrist which subsequently played a negative role when Feinberg was a dissident.
In 1957, in connection with antisemitic insult, he had a fight with a policeman and for this reason was sentenced to 1 year of corrective labor.
In 1968, he graduated from the English unit of the philological department of the Leningrad University where he defended his diploma thesis about writer Salinger with distinction. In the summer of 1968, Fainberg worked as a guide for the Pavlovsk Palace
.
Viktor Fainberg was one of the seven persons who demonstrated on Red Square
in Moscow in 1968 against the intervention into Czechoslovakia
.
After his arrest on August 25, Viktor Fainberg was sent to a psychiatric examination, found insane and subjected to compulsory treatment.
The KGB had trouble. Appearance of Fainberg in the court was deemed to be undesirable since he got all his front teeth knocked out during his arrest. They found the way out to send Feinberg to special psychiatric hospital (such a decision could be adopted by a court in the absence of a defendant and without right of appeal to a higher court).
Feinberg was examined by the Serbsky Institute commission composed of G.V. Morozov, D.R. Lunts and Y.L. Lindau. In their act No 35 / s dated October 10, 1968, they did not mention the invasion of Czechoslovakia, which gave rise to this demonstration, the action was merely described as ‘disorderly conduct at Red Square,’ and Fainberg’s mental condition was described as follows:
As a result, he was committed for compulsory treatment to the Special Psychiatric Hospital in Leningrad
where he was confined from January 1969 to February 1973.
At the hospital, Fainberg went on hunger strike in protest, was subjected to forced feeding and was treated with chlorpromazine
despite his hyperthyroidism
that was somatic contraindication to chlorpromazine therapy.
Marina Vaykhanskaya, a psychiatrist at the hospital, assisted Fainberg by passing information about him to dissidents outside. She was dismissed for this activity which helped Fainberg be released. In 1974, they married and emigrated from the Soviet Union
.
In the emigration, Fainberg has initiated the formation of “Campaign Against Psychiatric Abuses” (CAPA) to fight punitive psychiatry in the USSR. In 1983, the Soviet Union was expelled from the World Psychiatric Association
(WPA).
Renowned British playwright Tom Stoppard
wrote the play Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
dedicated to Vladimir Bukovsky
and Viktor Fainberg.
1968 Red Square demonstration
The 1968 Red Square demonstration took place on August 25, 1968 at Red Square, Moscow, Soviet Union, to protest the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, that occurred during the night of 20–21 August 1968, crushing the so-called Prague spring, a set of...
, and fighter against punitive psychiatry.
He was born to the married couple of Isaac Fainberg and Sarah Dashevskaya. In his life as a child, while attending school during an antisemitic campaign of 1948-1952
Antisemitism in the Soviet Union
The Russian Revolution overthrew a centuries-old regime of official antisemitism. The Soviet Unions success, during its existence, in struggling with this legacy, and the degree to which its government fought against, or was itself guilty of antisemitism, is a topic of some debate...
, he was subjected to harassment that, in his own words, he did not reconcile himself to, but entered the fray with an abuser. As the result of these frays, he got a referral to a psychiatrist which subsequently played a negative role when Feinberg was a dissident.
In 1957, in connection with antisemitic insult, he had a fight with a policeman and for this reason was sentenced to 1 year of corrective labor.
In 1968, he graduated from the English unit of the philological department of the Leningrad University where he defended his diploma thesis about writer Salinger with distinction. In the summer of 1968, Fainberg worked as a guide for the Pavlovsk Palace
Pavlovsk Palace
Pavlovsk Palace is an 18th-century Russian Imperial residence built by Paul I of Russia near Saint Petersburg. After his death, it became the home of his widow, Maria Feodorovna...
.
Viktor Fainberg was one of the seven persons who demonstrated on Red Square
Red Square
Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...
in Moscow in 1968 against the intervention into Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
.
After his arrest on August 25, Viktor Fainberg was sent to a psychiatric examination, found insane and subjected to compulsory treatment.
The KGB had trouble. Appearance of Fainberg in the court was deemed to be undesirable since he got all his front teeth knocked out during his arrest. They found the way out to send Feinberg to special psychiatric hospital (such a decision could be adopted by a court in the absence of a defendant and without right of appeal to a higher court).
Feinberg was examined by the Serbsky Institute commission composed of G.V. Morozov, D.R. Lunts and Y.L. Lindau. In their act No 35 / s dated October 10, 1968, they did not mention the invasion of Czechoslovakia, which gave rise to this demonstration, the action was merely described as ‘disorderly conduct at Red Square,’ and Fainberg’s mental condition was described as follows:
As a result, he was committed for compulsory treatment to the Special Psychiatric Hospital in Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
where he was confined from January 1969 to February 1973.
At the hospital, Fainberg went on hunger strike in protest, was subjected to forced feeding and was treated with chlorpromazine
Chlorpromazine
Chlorpromazine is a typical antipsychotic...
despite his hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism is the term for overactive tissue within the thyroid gland causing an overproduction of thyroid hormones . Hyperthyroidism is thus a cause of thyrotoxicosis, the clinical condition of increased thyroid hormones in the blood. Hyperthyroidism and thyrotoxicosis are not synonymous...
that was somatic contraindication to chlorpromazine therapy.
Marina Vaykhanskaya, a psychiatrist at the hospital, assisted Fainberg by passing information about him to dissidents outside. She was dismissed for this activity which helped Fainberg be released. In 1974, they married and emigrated from the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
In the emigration, Fainberg has initiated the formation of “Campaign Against Psychiatric Abuses” (CAPA) to fight punitive psychiatry in the USSR. In 1983, the Soviet Union was expelled from the World Psychiatric Association
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 professional education and to set ethical, scientific and...
(WPA).
Renowned British playwright Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
wrote the play Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is a stage play by Tom Stoppard with music by André Previn. It was first performed in 1977. The play criticizes the Soviet practice of treating political dissidence as a form of mental illness. Its title derives from the popular mnemonic used by music students to...
dedicated to Vladimir Bukovsky
Vladimir Bukovsky
Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky is a leading member of the dissident movement of the 1960s and 1970s, writer, neurophysiologist, and political activist....
and Viktor Fainberg.
Sources
- Хроника текущих событий
- ВИКТОР ФАЙНБЕРГ: ДВА ГОДА, 30 ЛЕТ И ПОКУШЕНИЕ
- Горбаневская Н. «Герои или безумцы?»
- Пшизов В. Синдром замкнутого пространства (Записки судебного психиатра)
- Интервью Файнберга Международному французскому радио