Irina Mutsuovna Khakamada (; ; born April 13, 1955, in Moscow) is a Russian economist, political activist, journalist, publicist, and politician who ran in the 2004 Russian presidential election. Khakamada was a former member (deputy) of the lower house (the State Duma) of the Russian parliament for three convocations (electoral terms, 1993–2003) and Vice-Chair of the house; co-chair of a political party Union of Right Forces (1999–2003), presidential candidate of the Russian Federation (2004), member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (2012–2018). In 1995, Time named Khakamada a 21st-century politician among 100 well-known women in the world. In 2002, Khakamada served as a rapporteur from Russia at the 57th session of the UN General Assembly. 2005 she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Biography Khakamada was born to a Japanese father, Mutsuo Hakamada, a communist who defected to the Soviet Union in 1939. Her mother, Nina Sinelnikova, with Russian, Lezgian and Armenian roots, was an English schoolteacher who lost her father to the Stalinist purges and her mother to suicide following the family's forced relocation to Khabarovsk. Khakamada's paternal uncle is , a member of the Japanese Communist Party leadership. The Russia expert and political science professor Shigeki Hakamada is her half-brother. In kanji, Khakamada's family name is ; in katakana, her name is イリーナ・ハカマダ. Khakamada graduated from the Department of Economy of the Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University in Moscow in 1978. She obtained her PhD degree from the Faculty of Economics of Lomonosov Moscow State University. In 1983, she received the academic title of associate professor in the specialty "political economy". She was a member of the CPSU from 1984 to 1989. Duma career Khakamada was an elected Duma representative from 1993 to 2003. She is regarded as a democratic politician who is in a moderate opposition to the Russian government. She is known for criticizing the governmental actions during Moscow theater hostage crisis where she was involved as one of the negotiators. Khakamada stated that the hostage takers were not going to use their bombs to kill the people and destroy the building. Khakamada was a member of the coordinating council of the Union of Right Forces. She opted to abstain from the council's vote on their endorsement in the 2000 presidential election, in which the party ultimately voted to support Vladimir Putin's campaign over that of council member