Thousands of Russians turn out to mourn Nobel hero Solzhenitsyn in 'state' funeral

As thousands of Muscovites lined up to honour the Nobel Laureate, four Russian soldiers in dress uniform stood at attention by the open coffin in the Russian Academy of Sciences.

A large portrait of the writer, who died of heart failure at 89 on Sunday, and a Russian flag completed the backdrop.

Solzhenitsyn's widow Natalia and his sons looked on as people, many elderly, brought white or red flowers to place before his coffin.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn's son, Stephan and his son pay their respects at the coffin of the writer and former Soviet dissident

Natalya weeps as her husband's body lies in state

They were paying respects to a survivor of Stalin's Gulag prison camps who documented that tyranny and challenged Soviet rule.

In keeping with Russian tradition, brought an even number of flowers, usually two or four.

'Solzhenitsyn was one of the most important people in the history of Russia. He wrote exactly what he thought and needed to be remembered,' said maths professor Alexander Romanov.

'It's a shame that not all young people understand how important he is. The young people of Russia today understand less and less.'

Solzhenitsyn came to international attention after the publication in 1962 of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, which chronicled the appalling life of a labour camp prisoner.

Russian Premier Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the coffin with the body

The body of writer and former Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn lies in state while guards keep watch

He went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970 and later produced his most famous work, Gulag Archipelago, a chronicle of his own and thousands of other prison camp experiences.

Solzhenitsyn was stripped of his citizenship in 1974 and he moved to the United States, where he lived until after the fall of the Soviet Union.

He spent his final years living quietly in a Moscow suburb.

Solzhenitsyn was treated with great deference by subsequent Russian leaders, including current Russian prime minister and former president Vladimir Putin, though he became increasingly critical of corruption in modern Russia.

'The young know he wrote important books about the camps and that he received the Nobel prize, but that's all we really know - he's more important for the older generations,' said football trainer Alexander Selemenev, 27, on his way to work.

But he said he respected Solzhenitsyn because he wasn't afraid to tell the truth.

Russia's main television channels ran lengthy reports on their evening news programmes and unscheduled documentaries on Solzhenitsyn's life.

But not all media reports remembered Solzhenitsyn so kindly.

The Communist party newspaper Pravda called him a radical critic who produced one-sided accounts of Stalin's rule.

'He became one of the main battering rams in destroying both the state and nation ... that is why he is being applauded so rapturously by both Russian President Medvedev and U.S. President Bush!' it wrote in a commentary on Tuesday.

A funeral service will take place on Wednesday at the medieval Donskoi monastery, where Solzhenitsyn will be buried.