George Krimsky, a journalist and author who covered dissident activity in the Soviet Union and co-founded a center for international journalists, has died at the age of 75.
Krimsky, who lived in Washington, died on January 20 after a battle with cancer, his family said.
He worked for the Associated Press (AP) in New York and in 1974 was posted to the Soviet Union. His Russian-language skills allowed him to make contact with dissident leaders, including nuclear physicist Andrei Sakharov.
Krimsky held secret meetings with Josef Stalin's grandson Josef Alliluyev, who sought Krimsky's help to get him to the United States to see his mother after she defected to the West.
Alliluyev never defected, and Krimsky was eventually expelled from the Soviet Union, a victim of false espionage charges.
"He reported bravely and truthfully from Moscow, seeking out dissidents and ordinary Russians at a time when Western reporters were under constant surveillance," said John Daniszewski, AP vice president for standards.
