Lana (Svetlana) Ravandi-Fadai (PhD), Senior Researcher of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is the author of over 50 scholarly works. Her book, Political Parties and Organizations of Iran (2010), traces the formation of modern political parties in Iran from the early 20^th century to the present, and was chosen out of 700 new publications as runner-up for Best Scholarly Book of the Year at the Institute of Oriental Studies under the Russian Academy of Sciences. Her next book, co-authored with Dr. Touraj Atabaki, is titled, Victims of Their Faith, traces the fates of Iranian Communist revolutionaries during the period of Stalinist repressions. It will be published in three languages in 2014. Another book by Dr. Ravandi-Fadai, “Doctor Mossadeq: His Life and Deeds,” is also scheduled for publication in 2014.

In 2010, she was awarded a Golam Hossein Sadiqi Fellowship for research work at the Institute for Social History in Amsterdam under the Royal Academy of Sciences of the Netherlands. Lana graduated from the Eastern Studies Department of Baku State University and, in 1997, received her Master’s Degree as a Regional Specialist in Iran from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. In 2002, she successfully defended her dissertation to become a Doctor of Historical Sciences. Since 1998, she has worked as a research fellow and taught Persian language and literature at the Oriental University in Moscow.

In addition to participating in international conferences in Russia, Iran, the Netherlands, Turkey, the United States, Great Britain, and Greece, Dr. Ravandi-Fadai has been invited to speak at prestigious institutions of learning, such as the University of Tehran, Oxford University, and Virginia Military Institute.

Her works examine political and social developments in contemporary Iran – political parties and factions, government institutions, educational policy, and ethnic and women’s issues.