Keston Center Mourns the Passing of Russian Historian Alyona Kojevnikov
Russian Historian and Interpreter Alyona (Helena) Kojevnikov, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Host from 1971 to late 1990s and Keston Institute Information Officer and trustee member, died at the age of 82 after being admitted to the Conquest Hospital during a downturn in her course of cancer treatment in Hastings, England, United Kingdom on Wednesday, November 26, 2025.
The daughter of White Russian emigres, Alyona (Helena) Kojevnikov was born September 24, 1943, in Yugoslavia, where her family settled beginning in 1920. From the ages of one to six, she lived in refugee camps in the American zone of occupied Germany. The entire family emigrated to Australia in 1950. She graduated from Melbourne University with a double major in Russian Language and Literature, then received a Diploma of Librarianship, and conducted the book exchange program between Melbourne University’s Baillieu Library and libraries in the then USSR.
In 1971, Kojevnikov and her husband, who was also of Russian extraction, received an offer to work on the news desk of Radio Liberty in Munich. In 1975, she met Michael Bourdeaux at the First International Sakharov Hearing in Copenhagen and learned about Keston College. Sometime later, she was offered the post of Information Officer at Keston, and as her husband was offered a job in the Russian Service of the BBC at the same time, they relocated to London with their 11-year-old son Alex.
“I remember Alyona particularly in the 1970s when she headed the Keston News Service and kept in touch with the persecuted by phone,” said Keston Institute Council of Management Chair, Xenia Dennen. “The most memorable person she talked to was the husband of Irina Ratushinskaya, from whom Keston got detailed information. Alyona was brilliant at this vital job.”
While working at Keston College, Kojevnikov was “loaned” to the BBC to present and co-author the weekly Russian language religious program. In later years she also performed this function for the Russian religious program of Radio Liberty. Apart from compiling and editing the Keston News Service, Kojevnikov maintained telephone contact with religious dissidents in the USSR and visited the USSR twice before being declared persona non grata. Having been granted security clearance by the British Home Office, she acted frequently as interpreter for various prominent UK politicians, including the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Former Baylor University Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences from 1996 to 2005 and Bessie Mae Lynn Professor of History, and now Professor of History at Mercer University, Dr. Wallace Daniel, stated, “I had the pleasure of working with Alyona Kojevnikova several years ago in the Keston Archive and found her to be extremely knowledgeable about the Soviet and the Post-Soviet Union. She was a remarkable person with fascinating life experiences that bridged many different cultures, both East and West, and her contributions to Keston were unmeasurable. We will miss her greatly—her humility, sharp sense of humor, personal warmth, and insights into Russia. She is irreplaceable.”
In 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree allowing formerly jammed Western radio stations to open offices and studios in Moscow, and Kojevnikov was approached by Radio Liberty to go to Moscow as Bureau Chief and set up the operation from scratch. Some years later, Kojevnikov resigned from Radio Liberty and worked as a bilingual translator for several law firms, including the international law firm of Baker & McKenzie.
Kojevnikov returned to the United Kingdom in 2013 and settled in Rye following a medical accident that resulted in the loss of sight in one eye. She was delighted to be invited to serve as a trustee of the Keston Institute, as that first meeting with Michael Bourdeaux all those years ago turned out to be one of the major landmarks of her life.
Baylor University established the Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society, which seeks to be a voice of the voiceless by promoting research, teaching and understanding of religion and religious persecution as the Center preserves, expands, and makes available the Keston Archives and Library, the world’s most comprehensive artificially assembled collection of materials on religious persecution under communist and other totalitarian regimes. Originally located at Keston College in Oxford, the Keston collection arrived in Waco in 2007 and became part of the Baylor Libraries in 2012. Kojevnikov participated in several panels of the Keston Center’s Annual Spring and Fall Lectures including 2018’s “HUSH! Religion and the Secular Media” in person and 2021’s “Where in the World?” on Zoom.
Kathy Hillman, director of the Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society said of Kojevnikov, “Alyona Kojevnikov was not only an eye witness to the Cold War and the politics of East and West, she lived that history. Although she held strong personal opinions, Alyona never let them diminish her integrity or get in the way of truth. She translated for various prominent UK politicians, including Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and sometimes for Soviet President and General Secretary of the Communist Party Mikhail Gorbachev, on at least one occasion both at the same meeting. Her language skills and journalistic training allowed her to forge important behind-the-scenes connections that supported the fight for religious freedom.”
Additional Resources