ACTIVISM

Garry Kasparov

Activist and author

Legendary chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov continued his advocacy for human rights throughout 2020, speaking out on behalf of dissidents in autocratic regimes in Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, and Turkey, as well as his native Russia. In November, Kasparov was awarded with the International Leadership Award from the Anti-Defamation League, which cited his “bravery as a person of tremendous courage who refused to be silent in the face of tyranny.” Kasparov, who was born to a Jewish father and Armenian mother in the former Soviet Union, has also spoken out forcefully against antisemitism in the US, slamming a far-left group’s insistence in 2020 that New York City councillors boycott Israel as “repulsive.” Said Kasparov: “As always, the far-left meets the far-right when it comes to intolerance, especially antisemitism.” (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)