On 25 March 1994, nine-year-old Polina Zherebtsova began recording the events of her life in Grozny, marking the start of a decade-long chronicle of conflict. These journals captured her transition from childhood through adolescence while navigating the volatility of the First and Second Chechen Wars within the borders of the Russian Republic.
Early Life and Family Background
Born in Grozny in 1985, Zherebtsova grew up in a multi-ethnic household with Chechen, Ukrainian, and Russian roots. Her family maintained a reverence for the Torah, the Bible, and the Koran, encouraging early engagement with philosophy, history, and religion. Her maternal grandfather, Anatoly Pavlovich Zherebtsov, worked as a cameraman for over 25 years, while her grandmother was a professional artist. Her paternal grandparents worked as an actress and a musician, respectively. These familial connections to the arts and media preceded her own path as a journalist and diarist.
Twenty questions, eight minutes on the clock, and a percentile measured against everyone who has taken it. No sign-up.
Take the IQ test →Witnessing the Chechen Wars
The First Chechen War began in 1994, claiming the life of her grandfather Anatoly during an aerial bombardment. Throughout this period, Zherebtsova documented the destruction of her schools and the increasing social tensions that led to schoolyard insults. On 21 October 1999, during the onset of the Second Chechen War, she sustained shrapnel wounds while assisting her mother at a local market in Grozny. The severity of her injuries necessitated surgery in February 2000 at a Moscow hospital to remove fragments. Despite constant displacement and starvation, she continued her education, eventually graduating from the school of reporters in 2004.
Professional Recognition and Exile
Zherebtsova pursued journalism professionally starting in 2002 and earned a degree in General Psychology from Stavropol North Caucasus University in 2010. Her autobiographical work, most notably 'Ant in a Glass Jar', chronicles the decade between 1994 and 2004. In 2006, she received the Janusz Korczak international prize in Jerusalem. Later, she was nominated for the Andrei Sakharov Award for Journalism as an Act of Conscience in 2012. Due to the dangers associated with her reporting on war crimes, she relocated to Finland in 2013, where she was granted political asylum.
Fast facts
- Born: 1985, Grozny
- Citizenship: Russia
- Occupations: writer, poet, journalist, historian, philosopher
- Key work: Ant in a Glass Jar
- Member: PEN International, Union of Journalists of Russia
- Education: Stavropol North Caucasus University
- Exile: Finland (since 2013)
Questions readers ask
What did Polina Zherebtsova study?
She studied at the School of Correspondents and earned a degree in General Psychology from the Stavropol North Caucasus University in 2010.
Where does she currently live?
She has lived in Finland since 2013, where she was granted political asylum.
Achievements
- Genres: non-fiction literature, opinion journalism and creative nonfiction
