Ekaterina Yurievna Shikhanovich, a driving force behind the Sakharov Archive — the first private archive in modern Russia — passed away on August 21st, after a brief hospitalization at one of Moscow’s leading hospitals.
Her father, Yuri Shikhanovich, a formidable professor of mathematics, belonged to the Soviet dissident movement; arrested and sent to the camps twice, he became a close friend of the Sakharov family along the way. Ekaterina grew up inside this world — as a young girl, she helped political prisoners and carried her trusted camera to document events that would later become history.
The Sakharov Archive was Elena Bonner’s brainchild, built by the careful hands of Ekaterina — a trained chemistry teacher — together with Bela Koval. Over the years, the two women amassed thousands of documents and photographs, countless video recordings, books, and personal items belonging to Andrei Sakharov, shaping the sprawling collection into a rigorously organized archive.
Reserved and unassuming, Ekaterina drew the quiet affection of everyone who had the privilege of knowing her. Word of her passing brought condolences from around the world, and left her close friends grieving deeply.
Ekaterina could not imagine life without the Sakharov Archive. Now, the Archive must learn to imagine life without her.
May her memory be a blessing. The ASF extends its deepest condolences to Ekaterina Yurievna’s friends and family.