Victoria Amelina, 2025/2026 College of Europe 'Patronne de promotion'

One of the most important long-standing traditions of the College of Europe is its 'Patrons' and 'Patronnes de promotion'. Every academic year, an outstanding European figure is chosen to guide the work and experience of our students symbolically.

After a consultation process among the College of Europe's community of students, alumni, professors and staff, Rector Federica Mogherini decided to dedicate the 2025-2026 Academic Year to Victoria Amelina—Ukrainian novelist, poet, and human rights defender, born in Lviv in 1986, who lost her life in a Russian missile attack on Kramatorsk in 2023. 

Through “Синдром листопаду, або Homo Compatiens" (The Fall Syndrome, or Homo Compatiens), her debut novel in 2015, she explored the 2014 Euromaidan events known as the Revolution of Dignity, exploring societal upheaval and the fight for democracy.

Looking at Women, Looking at War is Victoria Amelina’s final, posthumously published work—a powerful, unfinished account of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Combining diary entries, interviews, war reports, and poetry, the book centers on the experiences of Ukrainian women—soldiers, human rights defenders, librarians, and curators—who, like Amelina, bore witness to the war’s atrocities. The book bears witness to the tragedy that is still unfolding in Ukraine. 

Her work as a writer, as well as her unwavering dedication to documenting war crimes during Russia’s war against Ukraine, made her a powerful voice for truth and justice. With her life and legacy, she stands as a symbol of Ukraine’s struggle for freedom, democracy and human dignity—values at the heart of the European project and our community.