Vitaly Ginzburg, Jew, Nobel laureate, father of the Russian hydrogen bomb, superconductor pioneer, found himself a new cause as he got older.

Religion.

Did he shed a lifetime of Soviet atheism to return to his ancestral roots?

Quite the opposite.

Ginzburg became an outspoken critic of organized religion. He even went was far as writing a letter to Vladimir Putin, expressing concerns about Russia's growing clericalization.

It wasn't just Russia. Ginzburg, who was rather proud of his Jewishness, criticized Israel as well. He found issue with over-dependence of Judaism in what is supposed to be a secular society.

Ginzburg passed away in 2009, and it's safe to say that his vitriol didn't exactly pay off. Russia, for instance, has made religion a mandatory subject in public schools.

Israel?

Don't bet on it changing any time soon...