Nikolai Girenko

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Nikolai Mikhailovich Girenko was a Russian ethnologist and human rights activist. He was born on 31 October 1940 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) and died on 19 June 2004 in Saint Petersburg, murdered by a gunshot.

He studied African studies at Leningrad University and graduated in 1967. From 1967 to 1970 he worked as a translator in Tanzania. In 1970 he joined the Institute of Ethnography in Leningrad, taught at the university, and worked at the Kunstkamera museum. He gained recognition in the Soviet Union for his work in ethnology and African studies.

In the 1990s Girenko was active in public life. He was elected to the first democratic city council, Lensovet, serving from 1990 to 1993, where he led groups focused on ethnic minority rights and helped create committees on tolerance. In 1991 he helped organize the European Conference for the Rights of Ethnic Minorities, the first of its kind in Russia, and he ran workshops on legal ways to counter nationalist extremism in Saint Petersburg. He also spoke about the rights of Russian-speaking people in the Baltic states and participated in international human rights events.

As an expert witness, Girenko provided more than twenty examinations for Moscow and Saint Petersburg law enforcement and took part in trials involving far-right publications. He contributed to the trial of the ultra-nationalist newspaper Russian Veche in 2004 and to cases about the Shultz-88 group. He advised investigators in the 2002 murder of Mamed Mamedov.

On 19 June 2004, shortly after testifying about Russian nationalist groups, Girenko was shot dead in his Saint Petersburg apartment. He had reportedly received threats before his death. A neo-Nazi group leader later claimed responsibility. By mid-2005, the official investigation had found no suspects. The murder prompted campaigns against racism, including the Human Rights in Russia campaign “I don’t want to hate,” which involved many non-governmental organizations and media outlets.