1978 Vishnevskaya and Rostropovich stripped of Soviet citizenship

Forty years ago, on March 15, 1978, singer Galina Vishnevskaya and her husband, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who were abroad, were deprived of their Soviet citizenship and government awards "for actions discrediting the title of a citizen of the USSR." The corresponding decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was canceled only in January 1990.