Kennan Institute Offers Human Rights Fellowship in Memory of Galina Starovoitova

The Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Center has announced a fellowship in remembrance of Galina Starovoitova, a visiting scholar at the Wilson Center in 1989 and a leading Russian human rights activist until her untimely death in 1998.

The Galina Starovoitova Fellowship on Human Rights and Conflict Resolution was established following a speech given by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Moscow on January 25, 1999, in which she announced funding for a memorial fellowship in honor of Starovoitova at the WWICS's Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies. "This fellowship is important to the Woodrow Wilson Center not only because it is in memory of one of our former scholars, but also because it honors an individual who made a remarkable contribution to human rights," said Lee H. Hamilton, Director of the Woodrow Wilson Center. The Fellowship is funded and administered in cooperation with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.

In addition to her human rights advocacy, Starovoitova served as a deputy in the lower house of the Russian parliament (Duma). She won her Duma seat from St. Petersburg in Russia's December 1995 legislative elections. Starovoitova served in the Congress of the Peoples' Deputies during 1989-1991 and was a presidential advisor on ethnic relations until 1992. She was a co-founder of the Democratic Russia movement and was a candidate in Russia's 1996 presidential elections. She was shot in St. Petersburg on November 20, 1998 by two unknown assassins.

During her tenure at the Kennan Institute, she worked on a project entitled, "Urban Ethnic Groups in the Soviet Union." "Galina exemplified all the best qualities of the Kennan Institute and of Russia," remarked Blair Ruble, Director of the Kennan Institute. She also was a visiting professor at Brown University and a fellow in the Jennings Randolph fellowship program at the United States Institute of Peace during 1993-94, where she completed research on self-determination movements in the former Soviet Union.

In keeping with both the legacies of Woodrow Wilson and Galina Starovoitova, the Starovoitova Fellowship is available to prominent scholars or policymakers from the Russian Federation who have successfully bridged the world of ideas and public affairs to advance human rights and conflict resolution. "This new fellowship is a kind of memorial not only to Galina, who I personally knew, but also to the first wave of democratic fighters as a whole. It is a real and practical contribution toward promoting humanitarian values in my country," commented Anatoly L. Adamishin, Minister of the Russian Federation Ministry for CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) Countries Cooperation, former Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United Kingdom, and a current public policy scholar at the Kennan Institute.

Men and women with outstanding capability and experience from a wide variety of backgrounds (including government, the private sector, and academia) are eligible for the fellowship. For academic participants, eligibility is limited to the postdoctoral level, and it is normally expected that academic candidates will have demonstrated their scholarly development by publication beyond their Ph.D. dissertation. For other applicants, an equivalent level of professional achievement is expected.

Under the terms of the grant, the Galina Starovoitova Fellowship offers a monthly stipend, research facilities, word processing support, and research assistance. Grant recipients are required to be in residence at the Kennan Institute in Washington, D.C. for the duration of their grant. The Starovoitova fellow is expected to hold public lectures on themes of conflict resolution and human rights while conducting research on a specific topic. In addition, the Starovoitova Fellow will actively participate in discussions with the public policy and academic communities, including giving speeches and lectures at other institutions and taking part in meetings and conferences.

The Kennan Institute will hold one round of competitive selection for one nine-month Starovoitova Fellowship during the 2001-2002 program year. The deadline for the submission of applications and supporting materials is January 1, 2002. Decision on appointment will be made in March 2002, and the Fellowship can be commenced as early as September 2002

For more information on the Starovoitova Fellowship, please contact the Kennan Institute at 202-691-4100.