Ekaterina Alekseyevna Semenikhin (russian: Екатерина Алексеевна Семенихина; born 4 December 1971) is a Russian art collector,

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and honorary consul. Semenikhin is the co-founder of the Ekaterina Cultural Foundation and the Honorary Consul of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in the Principality of Monaco. Her father is

Alexei Gvishiani Alexei Dzhermenovich Gvishiani (russian: Алексей Джерменович Гвишиани; 29 October 1948) is a well-known Russian scientist, full member (academician) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). Chief Scientist of the Geophy ...

, a well-known scientist.

Cultural activity

As of the early 2000s, Semenikhin, with her husband Vladimir Semenikhin, has co-founded a foundation to promote the arts in Russia and has, through it, supported exhibitions at State museums and galleries. The foundation was named The Ekaterina Cultural Foundation. It has conducted international exhibitions such as the Knave of Diamonds avant-gardist exhibition in 2004 in the Tretyakov Gallery and in the Russian Museum in St Petersbourg. In 2005, they have opened the first private exhibition halls in the center of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Since then, it has hosted venues such as the Grace Kelly exhibition in 2009 . The Semenikhins are also considered as one of Russia's leading art collectors and are believed to have one of the largest private art collections. Semenikhin has encouraged the development of the arts in Russia by hosting exhibitions of Russian painters from the avant-garde movement.

Diplomatic work

Semenikhin has been, since 13 June 2014, the General Honorary Consul of

in the Principality of

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. As such she is taking part in the Year of Russia in Monaco in 2015. This includes her involvement in the organization of the official visit of a Russian delegation to Monaco in 2014 and of the Monegasque delegation to Moscow in 2015. In January 2016, she was awarded the Order of Friendship by

for her involvement in the Year of Russia in Monaco.

Awards

* Monegasque award for Cultural achievement (2011) * ARCO prize of International Art Collecting in February 2011 * Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit of Monaco (2011) * Russian Order of Friendship (2016). * Knight of the Order of Saint-Charles (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Semenikhin, Vladimir 1971 births Living people Russian art collectors Russian philanthropists Knights of the Order of Cultural Merit (Monaco) Knights of the Order of Saint-Charles Russian people of Georgian descent