Ruben Gallego

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Ruben David Gonzalez Gallego (born 1968) was born in Moscow, Russia, with severe cerebral palsy.

Gallego was separated from his family at the age of one; he was sent to a state orphanage, because his grandfather, Ignacio Gallego, who was Secretary-General of the Spanish Communist Party, was ashamed of him and told his daughter (who was Ruben's mother) that her son had died.

Born without the use of hands and feet, Ruben Gallego was tenacious and survived to adulthood, eventually marrying and having children. He lived in Russia and worked as a computer specialist until 2000, when he was reunited with his mother. Gallego now lives in Freiburg, Germany.

His memoir, which won the Russian Booker Prize, was translated into English and published, in January 2006, as White on Black: A Boy's story. An abridged version of the memoir was read on the Book of the Week programme on BBC Radio 4 in the week of March 20-24, 2006.

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