On Anatoly Sobchak Memorial Day, the best SPbU law students were awarded personal scholarships

This year’s scholarship recipients are Sofia Sinitsina, Antonina Petrova, Alina Musalimova, Valery Khludkov, and Daria Slobodenyuk. The Academic Board of the Faculty of Law selected the top students on the basis of their academic progress and achievements in legal science, such as participation in conferences and publication of research papers.

Anatoly Aleksandrovich Sobchak (1937-2000) graduated from the Law Faculty of the Leningrad State University (SPbU). He completed postgraduate studies, defended his doctoral and postdoctoral theses, and taught and headed the Department of Economic (now Commercial) Law. He was Mayor of St Petersburg from 1991 to 1996.

Lyudmila Narusova, President of the Sobchak Public Foundation, Senator and a public figure, Sobchak’s widow, congratulated the students of St Petersburg University. She noted that Anatoly Alexandrovich — a scientist, professor, head of department — was driven into politics by the realisation that the country needed change. «He said that new laws for the new country should be written by lawyers,» says Lyudmila Borisovna. Recalling the years when Anatoly Sobchak first entered politics, she quoted the writer Yuri Trifonov. He wrote: «When you swim in lava, you don’t feel the temperature.» "We were all swimming in the lava of social change. It was exhilarating," emphasised Lyudmila Borisovna. 

Anatoly Aleksandrovich Sobchak was known not only in St Petersburg but also throughout the country and internationally. Lyudmila Narusova said: «He spoke the words that used to be whispered in kitchens, the words that the country wanted to hear. And everyone remembered his key words that Russia should be a state governed by the rule of law. Narusova recalled that Anatoly Sobchak always claimed that the University was his favourite place to work: "The energy of the student audience gave him a sense of peace".

The scholarship was established following the passing of Anatoly Sobchak. It has been awarded annually to SPbU students since 2003.

Daria Slobodenyuk, this year’s scholarship recipient, thanked the Anatoly Sobchak Foundation on behalf of the students who received the award. "Retaining the scholarship confirms that our first foray into law holds great significance for both society and our nation. We have been entrusted with a great responsibility: to carry on the legacy of Anatoly Alexandrovich".