Marina Filippovna Khodorkovskaya, the mother of Mikhail Khodorkovsky who fought so tirelessly for his release for more than ten years, passed away earlier today, seven months after achieving that goal.

Khodorkovskaya was a vision and inspiration for the entire community surrounding her son, and her loss will be felt deeply.

Throughout her life, Khodorkovskaya will be remembered as a survivor and a fighter. When her father, a Bolshevik, was expelled from the Communist Party for marrying a ‘class enemy,’ she survived the hardships that followed, including giving up on her medical studies to take a job the Kalibr factory where she would work as an engineer for the next 40 years. When she developed cancer as a result of working conditions at the age of 45, she amazingly survived chemotherapy and multiple operations. When her only son, Mikhail, was hauled away to prison on politically motivated charges and put through two show trials, she survived that indignity as well, regularly traveling for 3 days into the depths of Siberia for heartbreakingly brief visits.

When asked by a BBC reporter in 2013 how she was dealing with what seemed like an ordeal with no end in sight, she reflected: “You see, I come from a generation which knew the people who suffered in the 1930s repressions very well. I grew up knowing that nothing good would come from a KGB government like this. So deep inside I always had this feeling that this was not the end of our ordeal. (…) I want to hope, but I don’t believe it.”

While Marina Filippovna was generous and caring, she was also a tenacious and courageous fighter, one who refused to give in to intimidation.

“Who fears a free Khodorkovsky?” she once commented to a reporter. “Forgive me if I’m blunt, but it’s Putin, and all those around him who stole Yukos.”

Her unfailing presence in the courtroom during both trials stood as an indictment of the process, while her determined efforts to raise awareness of his case and rule of law issues in Russia among European and North American political leaders was without doubt the strongest force behind the eventual pardoning of her son.

As their son rose to prominence in the early stages of his business career, Marina and her husband Boris, a war orphan himself, helped set up and run the Koralovo Lyceum, a widely admired school for orphans and disadvantaged youths. Even after the school was raided by Russian security forces, holding the terrified children at gunpoint, Khodorkovskaya stood fast, and continued to operate the orphanage despite the risks.

Her son held her in the highest regard. Asked by the New York Times to write about his moral inspiration, Khodorkovsky dedicated it to his mother.

“Not once in my life do I remember my mother complaining or falling into despair. I can only imagine what must have been going on inside her,” Khodorkovksy wrote. “But on the outside there was always a smile and a head proudly held high.”

The passing of Marina Filippovna is mourned by many in the Russian human rights community.

“I met Marina Filippovna Khodorkovskaya when MBK was already in prison. And while communicating with her, I realized that’s where he got his sturdiness, will and will to live – and live fully,” wrote Alexey Venediktov, a veteran journalist and editor at Echo Moskvy. “It is these women, who, even without participating directly in public life, are behind our backs and beside us, making us stronger, safer and more confident.”

The famous author Boris Akunin also published a short eulogy to his Facebook page, remarking: “She was strong and beautiful. And her communication with anyone made them a little stronger and more beautiful. She walked away as a winner. She waited for something that no one believed would happen.”

For members of the public who wish to pay their respects, a memorial service will be held at the Koralovo Lyceum on Monday August 11 at 1600 hours.