Dolhinov | Horodok | Krasne | Krivichi | Kurenets | Radoshkovichi | Rakov | Vashki | Vileyka | Vishnevo | Volozhin
Return to Riga Home Page
Return to Riga Stories Menu
Riga Stories
Inna Svetlova (Molly Riffel-Gordin)

Inna Svetlova (Molly Riffel-Gordin)
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:I6Dq2FcPuSgJ:www.osa.ceu.hu/2004/highlights/06/+Inna+Svetlova+&hl=en

Inna Svetlova was the pseudonym used by Molly Riffel-Gordin. She was
born in Riga in 1938 into a Jewish family, but grew up in an orphanage
having miraculasly escaped the Nazi occupation. She graduated from the
Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography. In 1963 she
immigrated to Israel and in 1968 joined the Radio Liberty.

In his book Sparks of Liberty: an Insider's Memoir of Radio Liberty ,
Gene Sosin recalls that, "During the next twenty-five years, Molly
became well-known among Soviet listeners as Inna Svetlova; her
programs were among the Radio's most popular, and she regularly
received a large amount of fan mail. She told me that in 1992, when
she could at last visit Moscow , her greatest thrill came when she was
standing in line in front of a food store and chatting. Another woman
shopper recognized her voice and shouted in delight, 'You're Inna
Svetlova!'"

Besides programs about youth, women and Jewish experience in the
beginning of 1990s, she was editing the program "Kontakty" (Contacts).
The program was a call-in program for Russian listeners to discuss
their concerns about life, social situation, and living standards. In
1997 Inna was shot and killed in the Prague underground on her way to
the Radios, and the program was closed down.