Natan Sharansky (born Anatoly Borisovich Shcharansky on January 20, 1948, in Donetsk, Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician, human rights activist, author, and former professional chess player. As a young mathematician and chess enthusiast, he emerged as a prominent Soviet refusenik in the Refusenik movement advocating for the right of Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel and was a founding member of the Moscow Helsinki Group, which monitored Soviet human rights violations. In 1977, the KGB arrested him on charges of treason and espionage for his activism, and he spent nine years as a prisoner of conscience in labor camps and prisons until his release in a 1986 prisoner exchange. After immigrating to Israel and Hebraizing his name to Natan, he co-founded the Yisrael BaAliyah party to represent Soviet immigrants and served as a Knesset member for Likud from 1996 to 2006, holding ministerial roles including Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Housing and Construction, and Minister of Industry and Trade as a former Israeli cabinet minister. From 2009 to 2018, Sharansky was Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel, promoting Jewish education, aliyah, and global Jewish connections, significantly influencing global Jewish diaspora affairs. He currently chairs the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) and serves as Chair of the Rabbi Sacks Legacy Global Advisory Board, and is also chairman of the Institute of Zionist Strategies. Sharansky is the author of books such as "Fear No Evil," which details his imprisonment, and has collaborated professionally with figures such as Dennis Prager on human rights and Jewish issues. Recognized as a Prisoner of Zion and recipient of awards including the 2014 Genesis Prize, he remains a vocal advocate against authoritarianism, participates in monitoring peace agreements through groups like Peace Watch, and embodies the struggle for freedom and Jewish rights.