Valentin Rasputin, Russian environmentalist and author (died 2015)

Valentin Grigoryevich Rasputin was a Soviet and Russian writer. He was born and lived much of his life in the Irkutsk Oblast in Eastern Siberia. Rasputin's works depict rootless urban characters and the fight for survival of centuries-old traditional rural ways of life, addressing complex questions of ethics and spiritual revival.

March 15 is the 74th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 291 days remain until the end of the year.