People: May 26, 1986

The dark, somber photograph showing Andrei Sakharov in his Gorky apartment would stir interest under any circumstances. But it is especially notable since the photographer is the subject's wife Yelena Bonner. Taken in October of last year, the picture was released to mark her husband's 65th birthday this week. Bonner, who is in the U.S. for medical treatment until June 2, used the occasion to express the "hope that my husband will be free and would enjoy at least the rights of other citizens of the country in which he was born, lived all his life and for which he worked." Meanwhile, Bonner celebrated another "kind of a birthday" in New York City when she was reunited after nearly a decade with Anatoli Shcharansky, who is visiting the U.S. to thank Americans for their help in winning his release from the U.S.S.R. Both were founding members of Moscow's Helsinki human rights group, which had its tenth anniversary last week. They embraced, laughed and began talking animatedly in Russian. The next day, Shcharansky met with members of Congress and spent 40 minutes at the White House with President Reagan. Sidestepping criticism that Bonner had not been similarly invited, Shcharansky said, "If Andrei Sakharov is released, President Reagan will be ready to meet him."