President Putin presenting the State Prize to Alexander Solzhenitsyn at the author's home outside of Moscow, June 2007 (Photo by: Getty Images)

The life of Alexander Solzhenitsyn can be described as a series of great miracles which could eventually earn him the status of the Saint in his Slavic Orthodox religion. Surviving Stalin’s Gulag where millions perished, recovering from a deadly cancer disease, and, most importantly, achieving a great moral victory over his Soviet tormenters and, moreover, Communist ideology should certainly qualify him for this honor.

One need only compare the headlines of major Soviet newspapers calling him a shameless and sold-out traitor to his Motherland and CIA lackey with the praise from former KGB officer and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who came to Solzhenitsyn’s house last year and thanked him “for the great work you do for our country” to see that many of his ideas have miraculously materialized.

Edward Lozansky is President of the American University in Moscow.