Ilya Gabay
Ilya Yankelevich Gabay (Илья́ Янкеле́вич Габа́й; 9 October 1935 in Baku – 20 October 1973 in Moscow; buried in Baku) was a key figure in the civil rights movement in the Soviet Union. Gabay, who was Jewish, was also a literature teacher, poet, and writer. During his lifetime, his works were published only in samizdat.
Also recorded as Ilya Yankelevich Gabay
Ilya Gabay
- Name
- Ilya Yankelevich Gabay
- Born
- 9 October 1935
- Birthplace
- Baku
- Died
- 20 October 1973
- Place of death
- Moscow
- Education
- Moscow State Pedagogical Institute
- Occupation
- teacher
- Known for
- human rights activism
- Movement
- dissident movement in the Soviet Union
- Spouse
- Galina Viktorovna Gabay (Samohena)
- Nationality
- Soviet Union
- Fields
- poetry · literature
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Ilya Yankelevich Gabay (Илья́ Янкеле́вич Габа́й; 9 October 1935 in Baku – 20 October 1973 in Moscow; buried in Baku) was a key figure in the civil rights movement in the Soviet Union. Gabay, who was Jewish, was also a literature teacher, poet, and writer. During his lifetime, his works were published only in samizdat.
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Note VALÉORINE
Ilya Gabay (1935–1973) was a dissident, editing staff and human rights defender, among other activities, of Soviet nationality. The dissident was born in Baku and died in Moscow.
Ilya Gabay was educated at Moscow Pedagogical State University. Activity centred on literature and poetry. Languages used include Russian.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 29 September 2026
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wikidata · Q4130843 · wikipedia · Ilya Gabay
In this article
Biography
Biography
During the trial of writers Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel in 1965, Gabay took part in the "glasnost meeting" calling for an open and fair trial for the writers. On January 22, 1967, he participated in a demonstration in defense of the arrested dissidents Yuri Galanskov, Vera Lashkova, Alexey Dobrovolsky, and Pavel Radzievsky, a case known as the Trial of the Four. After the demonstration, he was arrested and spent five months in Lefortovo prison. He was released in June 1967, and his case was closed. After his release, he, together with Yuli Kim and Peter Yakir, co-authored an appeal warning against Re-Stalinization. He also assisted Natalya Gorbanevskaya in editing the Chronicle of Current Events, most notably for issue No. 3 dedicated to the 1968 Red Square demonstration against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Through fellow dissident Pyotr Grigorenko, Gabay also became involved in the struggle for the Crimean Tatar autonomy and helped edit its samizdat publications. In March 1968, Gabay was dismissed as an editor at the Institute of the Peoples of Asia of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union and in May 1969, he was arrested and imprisoned. In January 1970, he was tried on the charge of preparing and circulating samizdat materials and sentenced to three years in a general-regime camp. Shortly before the end of the sentence, he was also questioned in Moscow in connection with the case against the Chronicle of Current Events ("Case No. After Gabay's release in May 1972, he remained unemployed and was subjected to KGB harassment. He committed suicide on October 20, 1973. He was the husband of Galina Viktorovna Gabay (née Samohena), and the father of two children, Alexei Ilyich Gabay (2/13/69) and Maria Ilyinichna Gabay (6/21/73).
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Ilya Yankelevich Gabay • Native Name — Илья Янкелевич Габай • Born — 9 October 1935 • Birthplace — Baku • Died — 20 October 1973 • Place of death — Moscow • Citizenship — Soviet Union • Education — Moscow State Pedagogical Institute • Occupation — teacher • Known for — human rights activism • Movement — dissident movement in the Soviet Union • Spouse — Galina Viktorovna Gabay (Samohena) • Children — Alexei, Maria
Identity
Identity
Ilya Gabay is recorded with the occupation human rights defender. Recorded with the occupation editing staff. Recorded as poet, human rights defender, dissident, pedagogue and writer.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1935
Ilya Gabay was born on 9 October 1935.
1973
Ilya Gabay died on 20 October 1973.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Baku.
Birth place
Moscow.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Ilya Gabay”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q4130843: Ilya Gabay
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.К деятелям науки, культуры, искусства // Процесс четырёх: Сборник документов о суде над А. Гинзбургом, Ю. Галансковым, А. Добровольским, В. Лашковой / Сост. П. М. Литвинов. — Франкфурт-на-Майне: «Посев», 1968. — С. 282—288 (совместно с Ю. Кимом и П. Якиром)
- 2.De Baets, Antoon. Censorship of historical thought: A world guide, 1945–2000. Greenwood. 503. 2001. 0-313-31193-5.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 4
- Gabai, Ilya. Posokh: Stikhi i poemy. Izd-vo "Prometeĭ" MGPI im V.I. Lenina. 1990. 978-5-7042-0261-5.
- Gabai, Ilya. "Vybrannye mesta": stichi, proza, publicistika, pisʹma. Vestʹ-VIMO. 1994. 978-5-88633-006-9.
- Gabay, Ilya. ".Gorstka knig da druzhestva.". M-Graphics Publishing. 2011. 978-1-934881-44-6.
- Gabay, Ilya. Pis'ma iz zaklyucheniya (1970–1972). Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie. 2015. 978-5-4448-0417-9.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
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Died at
1- MoscowPlace
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Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Identity and origins. The authorities additionally record the heading Ilya Yankelevich Gabay. His recorded language was Russian. He married Galina Gabai.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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