Author. He became famous as a Russian writer and as a Soviet dissident and was known as one of the defendants in the Sinyavsky-Daniel trial of 1965. He and Andrei Sinyavsky were convicted of Anti-Soviet agitation, becoming the first Soviet writers convicted only for their works in fiction. Avoiding the Soviet censorship of his stories and poetry, he published them in the West under the pen name of Nikolay Arzhak. He had chosen a Russian pen name, whereas Sinyavsky had chosen a Jewish pen name. Using his pen name, his 1959 writing, "Moscow Speaking," was published mainly in France by going through the French Embassy in Moscow. Soon after, the KGB linked their pseudonyms to their real identities, placing him and Sinyavky on their "watch list." Staying on the list for years, the two authors were arrested in September of 1965. They could not be charged for publishing material abroad or using pseudonyms as both were legal according to Soviet Law, instead the charges were "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda" under Article 70 of the RSFSR Criminal Code. They pleaded not guilty yet were not allowed to have a defense. They were found guilty with Daniel being sentenced on February 14, 1966. He served five years total, with four years in Mordovia labor camp and one year at Vladimir Prison. Today, historians can pinpoint the beginning of the end of Communism in the USSR, as it started in February of 1966 with the trial of Sinyavsky and Daniel, who were two Russian writers, using pen names, who ridiculed the Communist regime with satires smuggled abroad. Although Sinyavsky chose to go into exile to France, Daniel chose to stay in Russia. Before his imprisonment, he had married Larisa Bogoraz, who became a well-known Soviet dissident. While he was imprisoned, his wife was arrested for crimes against the state and sent to Siberia for four years. She was still serving her sentence when he was released. She planned to resume her resistance to the Soviet regime after her release, and wanting a quieter life, he did not; hence, they divorced. Born the son of a Russian Jew, his father was a Yiddish playwright. He had an uncle who perished with the thousands of other Russians during Stalin's Great Purge from 1936 to 1938. During World War II, he lied about his age in 1942 to join the Red Army serving in the 2nd Ukrainian Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front against the Nazi Forces in the horrors of war. After being seriously wounded in both legs in 1944, he was discharged and considered disabled. After graduating from what is now Moscow State Regional University, he became a schoolteacher. Compared to Sinyavsky's education, his education would have limited his opportunities in exile. Since he was banned from ever publishing anything in the Soviet Union, he became a ghostwriter and translator for the songwriter and poet Bulat Okudzhava. Shortly before Daniel's death, Okudzhava gave him public credit for his contributions. After being chronically ill for several years, he died after a stroke at the age of 63. He was survived by his second wife, Irina Uvarova, a son and grandson. Sinyavsky and his wife flew from France to Russia to attend his funeral.