Galina Starovoitova
-
Galina StarovoitovaAs part of an international effort to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the murder of Galina Starovoitova, the Havighurst Center announces a competition for the Galina Starovoitova Paper Prize. Starovoitova was a leading human rights advocate and a deputy in the Russian lower house of parliament, first elected in 1995. She had served in the Congress of Peoples' Deputies from 1989-91, and was a presidential advisor on ethnic relations until 1992. She was a co-founder of the Democratic Russia movement, and was a presidential candidate in
1996. Some believe she was contemplating another run for the presidency when she was gunned down in her apartment building stairwell on November 20, 1998. 
An ethnographer and psychologist by training, Starovoitova spent time in the United States, both as a visiting professor at Brown University and a visiting scholar at the Kennan Institute. She was also a fellow in the Jennings Randolph fellowship program at the United States Institute for Peace. She was easily the best-known female politician in post-Soviet Russia, an outspoken proponent of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. She was a champion for women and ethnic minorities.
"Psychologists believe that the pursuit of power is part of the individual's hedonistic nature. Taking control over others helps to satisfy certain desires. I believe that the exercise of power is a form of creativity and self-expression. Political power also gives us the possibility of shaping and guiding the future, for ourselves and for our children."
Galina Starovoitova
For more information on this modern Russian hero, please refer to the following links:
BBC News | Europe | Russia loses an icon
In Memoriam: Galina Vasilyevna Starovoitova
Galina Vasilievna Starovoitova
