Catharine Nepomnyashchy, the Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Russian Literature and Culture and chair of the Slavic department at Barnard College in New York City, died on March 21 at her home. She was 64 years old and suffered from lung cancer.
Professor Nepomnyashchy was the first woman to serve as director of the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, which focuses on Russian, Eurasian, and East European studies. She was the former president of the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages.
Professor Nepomnyashchy held a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in French from Brown University. She received her Ph.D. in Russian literature from Columbia University in 1987. Professor Nepomnyashchy was the author or editor of several books including Mapping the Feminine: Russian Women and Cultural Difference (Slavica Publishers, 2008).