Alexandra Elbakyan
Kazakh computer scientist and founder of Sci-Hub
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| 2023 | Received the Award for Access to Scientific Knowledge from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, recognizing her work in ensuring technological support for freedom, justice, and innovation. |
| February 17 2023 | An Indian court refused to dismiss a blocking application submitted by legal representatives of academic publishers against Sci-Hub, prompting Elbakyan's legal team to develop a new legal strategy focusing on economic arguments. |
| 2022 | In an interview a few months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Elbakyan clarified that she was neither aligned with Putin nor with the Russian liberal opposition, reaffirming her communist identity. |
| 2021 | Two additional species were named in her honor: Amphisbaena elbakyanae, a worm lizard species, and a deep-sea snail species discovered by researchers from Russia and France. |
| May 8 2021 | Elbakyan tweeted that the FBI served a subpoena to Apple seeking her iCloud data, which was subsequently retweeted by Edward Snowden in support of her. |
| 2020 | Two species were named after Elbakyan: an extinct catfish species and a flowering plant species from Mexico (initially named Spigelia elbakyanii, later corrected to Spigelia elbakyaniae). |
| 2019 | Elbakyan completed her Master's Thesis on 'Image of the Holy Spirit in Hebrew Bible texts' at Saint Petersburg State University. |
| 2019 | Graduated from Saint Petersburg State University with a master's degree in linguistics, focusing on biblical languages. |
| December 2019 | The Washington Post reported that Elbakyan was under investigation by the US Justice Department for suspected ties to Russia's military intelligence (GRU), which she denied. |
| 2018 | Elbakyan called on Sci-Hub supporters to join their local Pirate Party to fight for changes in copyright laws, shifting her political engagement towards challenging existing intellectual property frameworks. |
| 2018 | Expressed support for the Pirate Party of Russia, which was in opposition to Putin, marking a shift from her previous support of Putin's politics in 2012. |
| 2018 | A study published confirming that Sci-Hub provides access to nearly all scholarly literature, validating Elbakyan's mission of open access to research. |
| 2017 | Idiogramma elbakyanae, a species of parasitoid wasps, was discovered and named in honor of Elbakyan by Russian and Mexican entomologists. |
| 2017 | Sci-Hub was temporarily shut down in Russia for a few days after conflicts with science popularizers who supported liberal views. |
| 2016 | Elbakyan gave an interview to Vox where she expressed her communist ideals about knowledge sharing, explaining that research articles should be for common communication and not treated as intellectual property. |
| December 2016 | Nature magazine named Alexandra Elbakyan as one of the 10 most important people in science for that year, recognizing her role in creating Sci-Hub. |
| 2015 | Elbakyan criticizes the Dynasty Foundation, which was shut down, believing it was politicized and tied to Russia's liberal opposition. |
| 2015 | Elsevier sued Sci-Hub in the United States, subsequently being granted an injunction against Elbakyan and $15 million in damages. Following the lawsuit, Elbakyan went into hiding to avoid potential extradition. |
| 2014 | Dropped out of master's program at Higher School of Economics. |
| 2012 | Began master's studies at Higher School of Economics in Moscow. |
| 2011 | Alexandra Elbakyan developed Sci-Hub while living in Kazakhstan, creating a platform to provide fast and convenient access to academic papers. |
| 2011 | Began living in Russia, marking a significant transition in her personal life. |
| 2010 | Participated in the Towards a Science of Consciousness conference in Tucson, Arizona, presenting a poster titled 'Consciousness in Mixed Systems: Merging Artificial and Biological Minds via Brain-Machine Interface'. |
| 2010 | Spoke at the Humanity+ Summit at Harvard on the topic 'Brain-Computer Interfacing, Consciousness, and the Global Brain'. Proposed developing a brain-machine interface to merge human and machine qualia. |
| 2010 | Joined the University of Freiburg to work on brain-computer interfaces and completed a summer internship in neuroscience at Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States. |
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