Due to financial limitations, the Andrei Sakharov Archives, an 11-year feature of Brandeis' libraries, moved to Harvard University over the summer.The archives include manuscripts, personal materials, scientific works, theses, interviews, photos and family documents of Sakharov, the Soviet dissident and Nobel laureate who died in 1989.

In his work as a physicist, Sakharov played an integral role in creating the hydrogen bomb for the Soviet Union. During that time, he was very critical of the Soviet government for violations of human rights.

According to Tatiana Yankelevich, Sakharov's stepdaughter and the assistant director of the archives at Brandeis, the move occurred as a result of a lack of funding needed to maintain the archives. "The last three years were a struggle," said Yankelevich.

Provost Marty Krauss confirmed that the need for more funding was reason for the relocation of the archives.

"The University and the larger community interested in the archives could not manage to secure the funding needed to maintain the archives," Krauss said. Extensive attempts were made to obtain more funding, but it became clear that they would not be successful to properly ensure the necessary care of the archives.

Krauss also said that while attempts were being made, Harvard's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies became interested in acquiring the archives.

The archives arrived at Brandeis in October 1993 as a gift from Sakharov's widow Elena Bonner. The philanthropist Ronald Lauder agreed to underwrite the budget for the archives until the spring of 2001.

Once Lauder's funding expired, Yankelevich said enough money was raised to keep the Archives open until this past summer. But subsequent funding was not available.

Bonner initially donated her late husband's archives to Brandeis to honor his request that his work be placed for safekeeping in an academic institution, where they could be preserved and used for scholarly research. At the time, Brandeis was very eager to obtain the archives and create a center for human rights.

"On an emotional level, a University named for a judge who championed civil rights seemed a like a very desirable location for the archives of a man who dedicated his life to improving humanity," Yankelevich said.

"They constitute a valuable treasure on issues of social justice, one of the main pillars of Brandeis, which explains why Brandeis was the proud recipient of the archives," Krauss said.

Krauss said that Bonner approved of the move and all parties involved were satisfied with the solution.

"We were very fortunate to find a place such as Harvard" to house the archives, said Krauss.

Krauss said that Brandeis no longer maintains the archives may be a big loss, "but the reality is that scholars will always go wherever the archives are located."

The primary criteria for housing the archives is that they be located in an institution that has the recourses to maintain them, and Harvard was a viable destination given its vast financial resources.

Yankelevich said that she was "relieved that President Reinharz was so understanding," of the need to move archives to Harvard. She also said that the archives are intended to "raise awareness of certain issues among academia, the socially active and intellectual people," about life in the former Soviet Union.

During the past decade, materials from the archives have been used in several documentaries about the Soviet Union.

At Harvard, the archives will be kept open to the public at the Houghton and Whiteman libraries. The Davis Center plans to use materials from the archives for research projects and special exhibitions, The Harvard Crimson reported Aug. 6.

"Hope is that even though there won't be a specific center for the study of the archives, interest in related studies will be vibrant enough to maintain significant interest in the archives," Yankelevich said.

Harvard also intends to create a fellowship and human rights program relating to the archives. The program, however, is in its beginning stages and still needs approval before it can be made into a reality.

"It has to be designed created and implemented from scratch," Yankelevich said.

If the fellowships are created, it will include two to four students from Russia and other countries. Scholars will also be invited to discuss human rights issues.

In his work as a physicist, Sakharov played an integral role in creating the hydrogen bomb for the Soviet Union. During that time, he was very critical of the Soviet government for violations of human rights.

Sakharov outlined political, economic and legal reforms in his writings that he wished to see implemented in the Soviet Union. In 1975, Sakharov won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a human rights advocate.

Supplementary works from other Soviet dissidents and human rights activists, such as Vasilii Grossman, Sergei Kovalev and Larisa Bogoraz, are included in the archive, too.

It is hoped that additional acquisitions from others who contributed to the struggle for human rights in the Soviet Union will be included in the archives at the Houghton library.