Nadieszda Kizenko is a professor of history at the State University of New York at Albany. She received her BA from Harvard University and her PhD from Columbia University and has held fellowships in Budapest, London, and Munich. Her research, lecturing, and writing interests include the Russian empire; Eastern Europe; and religious culture, including ritual, architecture, hagiography, and iconography. 

Nadieszda’s first book, A Prodigal Saint: Father John of Kronstadt and the Russian People, won the Heldt Prize for Best First Book in Slavic Studies and was translated into Russian. Other books include Orthodoxy in Two Manifestations? The Conflict in Ukraine as Expression of a Fault Line in World Orthodoxy and Good for the Souls and A History of Confession in the Russian Empire. She has published extensively and has lectured at venues including the Hillwood Museum in Washington, D.C.; the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the New York Public Library; the Museum of Russian Icons; the Center for Historical Truth and Reconciliation; and a variety of educational institutions.  

Her research has been supported by grants including the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Social Science Research Council, the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research, and the American Councils Research Scholar Program.