Euroasian Jewish News

Natalia Yuhneva Obituary

The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Secretary General Michael Chlenov and EAJC PR Department Head Roman Spector sent a letter of condolence to the family of recently deceased Natalia Yuhneva. Dr. Yuhneva had been an important scholar and community activist, the chief research associate of the RAS Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography.

The letter reads: “Natalia Vasilyevna dedicated her entire adult life to an incredibly important field of research, centered on the human being and historic communities, their fates, cultures, and languages.” The Jewish minority of the former USSR and, later, the Russian Federation had a special place in her research.

National minorities were not just an object for her studies. Natalia Vasilyevna had a firm civic stance and defended their right to a distinct identity and activities. During the perestroika she participated in several Jewish organizations and was active in creating the first scholarly institutions of the Independent Jewish Movement...

With her loss we, as many others who had the honor of knowing her in person, truly feel as if we were orphaned.”