One of the world's great champions of freedom has passed. Liu Xiaobo, 61, a literary critic, civil rights activist and 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner, died on July 13 after losing a battle against lung cancer.

Mr. Liu followed in his fathers footsteps and became an academic, a lecturer at Chinas Beijing Normal University in literature, with tenures at Columbia University, the University of Hawaii and the University of Oslo.

But what he became known for was something quite different than literary criticism.

Mr. Liu opposed his countrys Marxist philosophy, and supported the concept of freedom. He said in a Nov. 27, 1988 interview with Open Magazine, modernization means wholesale westernization, choosing a human life is choosing a Western way of life.

Chinas Communist regime was obviously not pleased with the expression of such views. The safest thing Mr. Liu could have done was to remain outside the countrys perimeters.That is not what heroes do, however.

In June 1989, Mr. Liu left Columbia and returned to China to help support students during the Tiananmen Square protests.He organized a three-day event later described as the Tiananmen Four Gentlemen Hunger Strike. He called for an end to class struggle, and helped in the negotiations between students and the army to help prevent further bloodshed.

For that, hewas arrestedand went to Qincheng Prison. The state-run media called him a mad dog and black hand." He lost his university position several months later.

He was imprisoned several more times in his life.

There was a six-month sentence in 1995, on the sixth anniversary of the Tiananmen uprising, and three years in a labor education camp from1996 to 1999. Finally, his 11-year sentence in 2008 for suspicion of inciting subversion of state power led to an extended stay at Jinzhou Prison and, as his health failed, a trip to Shenyangs First Hospital of China Medical University, where he passed away.

Mr. Lius participation in a 1993 documentary film enabled him to travel to Australia and the United States, and provided him with a rare chance to escape. But he returned to the country of his birth to defend freedom against tyranny.

Through it all, he continued to write about politics and human rights (although he was banned from publishingin mainland China). This includes his powerful 1992 memoir "The Monologues of a Doomsday's Survivor," his notable work of political criticism called "A Nation That Lies to Conscience," and other articles, poems and collections.

He was also involved with creating Charter 8, a 2008 manifesto signed by more than 300 Chinese citizens. It called for freedom of expression, religion and assembly, for privatizing state enterprises, and for eliminating one-party rule. More than 10,000 signatures have been added since.

China vigorously opposed his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, initiated by such important figures as Vaclav Havel, Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama. (His wife, Liu Xia, was even put under house arrest.) Yet, the committee didnt back down and bestowed him with the honor for his long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.

Liu Xiaobo stood up to the Chinese Communists, and defended Western values to his dying breath. In a world of timidity and compromise, he stood for the rights of every human being. In short, he led a heroic life.

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Editorial: Death of a brave freedom fighter - The Providence Journal