Dear friends, last October we received the very sad, tragic news, that our colleague and EuPRA board member, Dr. Olga Vorkunova passed away suddenly after a short illness. – Olga was a wonderful, active peace researcher, educator and activist. She earned her doctor’s degree from the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences, where she also served as a senior researcher, and she was also an Associate Professor at the Moscow State Linguistic University. She was an expert on ethnic conflicts, peace-building and peace education. She was organizing a peace education conference in Moscow last October, and also in that connection she was building connections to her colleagues in the Nordic countries, in EuPRA and the International Peace Research Association. Her contribution as a bridgebuilder to many international organizations was crucial: EuPRA, IPRA, ISA’s Peace Studies Section, International Social Science Council, and Transcend. She participated actively in the development of early-warning networks, the Black Sea peace-building network, peace-building mission in Nagorno-Karabakh. Her contribution would be needed desperately now. We miss her. She is not with us anymore, but her work and example remains for us an inspiration.
Unto Vesa & the EuPRA Board
I learned a lot from Olga. She was a fine intellectual. She taught me how to make the right choices as President and how to engage in the peace studies community. She has always listened to me, replied to my messages, and supported my initiatives. I will immensely miss her smile, her calm attitude, her graceful beauty. The whole peace studies community will suffer a giant loss, but, above all, I will miss a wonderful friend and a Mentor.
Daniela Irrera, former EuPRA President