Vladimir Kara-Murza in Conversation with the Master

Honorary Fellow and alum, Vladimir Kara-Murza

Wednesday 12 February 2025, 17:00-19:00

Location: Trinity Hall Lecture Theatre & online

Cost: Free of charge, though booking is required

Booking Closing Date: 12:00, Tuesday 11 February 2025

Dress Code: N/A

Event Type: Discussion | Available to join in person & online

Bookings for this event have now closed. If you have any queries, or need to cancel your place at the event, please contact developmentevents@trinhall.cam.ac.uk.

Vladimir is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall and matriculated in History in 2000. In conversation with the Master, Mary Hockaday, he will be reflecting on his time as a History student at Trinity Hall and an opposition politician in Russia, how his ability to take the long view helped sustain him during his illegal detention in Siberia, and his hopes for the future now he has been released.

This is a hybrid event.

Programme

17:00 Drinks reception in the Terrace Room

17:40 Guests attending in person take their seats in the Lecture Theatre

17:45 Event begins; livestream begins for those attending online

19:00 Event ends

Booking

Bookings for this event have now closed. If you have any queries, or need to cancel your place at the event, please contact developmentevents@trinhall.cam.ac.uk.

There is no charge to attend, however, booking is required. Places are limited and tickets will be available on a first come, first served basis. Booking closes at 12:00 on Tuesday 11 February.

Once you have booked your place, you will receive a booking confirmation email, and final details will be circulated in the week before the event.

If you are joining us online, you will receive an email by 16:00 on Wednesday 12 February with a link and joining instructions. The livestream will begin at 17:45.

Vladimir Kara-Murza (2000)

Vladimir Kara-Murza (2000) is a Russian politician, author, historian, and former political prisoner. A close colleague of the slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, he has served as deputy leader of the People’s Freedom Party and was a candidate for the Russian Parliament. Leading diplomatic efforts on behalf of the opposition, Kara-Murza played a key role in the adoption of Magnitsky sanctions against top Russian officials by the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, and Australia. For this work he was twice poisoned and left in a coma; a joint media investigation by Bellingcat, The Insider, and Der Spiegel has identified FSB officers behind the attacks. In April 2022 Kara-Murza was arrested in Moscow for publicly denouncing the invasion of Ukraine and the war crimes committed by Russian forces. Following a closed-door trial at the Moscow City Court, he was sentenced to 25 years for “high treason” and kept in solitary confinement at a maximum-security prison in Siberia. He was released in August 2024 as part of the largest East-West prisoner exchange since the Cold War negotiated by the U.S. and German governments.

Kara-Murza is a contributing writer at the Washington Post, winning the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for his columns written from prison, and has previously worked for Echo of Moscow, BBC, RTVi, Kommersant, World Affairs, and other media organisations. He has directed three documentary films and is the author or contributor to several books on Russian history and politics. Kara-Murza currently serves as vice-president at the Free Russia Foundation, as senior advisor at Human Rights First, and as senior fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. He was the founding chairman of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom and has led successful international efforts to commemorate Nemtsov, including with street designations in Washington D.C. and London. Kara-Murza is a recipient of several awards, including the Council of Europe’s Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, and is an honorary fellow at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He holds an M.A. (Cantab.) in History from Cambridge. He is married, with three children.

Mary Hockaday (1981)

Mary Hockaday (1981) read English at Trinity Hall and took an MA in Journalism at New York University on a Fulbright Scholarship.

Mary Hockaday was formerly Controller BBC World Service English, responsible for the BBC World Service’s international radio and digital services, and growing the weekly audience to nearly 100 million. From 2009-2014 she was Head of the BBC Newsroom, overseeing the BBC’s core news services on radio, television and online for domestic and global audiences and leading innovation in digital and visual journalism. Mary was Editor of BBC World Service News and Current Affairs from 2001 to 2006. WSNCA won a Special Sony Gold award in recognition of its 9/11 coverage.

In the early 1990s Mary was based in Prague as correspondent for the BBC and The Independent, covering post-communist Czechoslovakia. She is author of a biography of Milena Jesenska, 20th Century Czech journalist and muse of Franz Kafka.

Mary serves on the board of the British Library, is a Lay Trustee with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, is an Independent Non-executive Director with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a Board Member with a small social enterprise, Climate Alliance. She is a former external examiner for Cardiff University’s School of Journalism.

Cancellations

Please let us know as soon as possible if you are no longer able to attend, as we have limited capacity and will run a waiting list. Please email the office or call +44 (0)1223 763010 at the earliest opportunity.

Photography

We like to take photos at our events to use in our digital and print communications. If you do not wish to have your photo taken, please let us know in advance or on the day.

Location

The Lecture Theatre, Trinity Hall, Trinity Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1TJ.

Please visit the Porters’ Lodge on arrival where they will direct you to the venue.

Contact

If you have any queries, please contact Rebecca Horner on developmentevents@trinhall.cam.ac.uk.

For general questions about College events, please see our FAQS.