Germany: Russian Tycoon’s Mother Dies

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/world/europe/germany-russian-tycoons-mother-dies.html

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Marina Khodorkovskaya, the mother of the former Russian tycoon Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, has died in a Berlin clinic where she was being treated for cancer, a spokeswoman, Christiane Maack, said Tuesday. Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, cited her illness as the reason for his surprising decision in December to release Mr. Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man, after he had spent more than 10 years in Russian prisons. During that time, Mr. Khodorkovsky cited his mother’s strength and perseverance as his inspiration.

The Russian author Boris Akunin was among those cited on Mr. Khodorkovsky’s website as eulogizing Ms. Khodorkovskaya, who died on Sunday at 79. “She was strong and beautiful,” Mr. Akunin wrote on his Facebook page, adding that she “walked away as a winner. She waited for something” — her son’s release — “that no one believed would happen.”

A memorial service is planned outside Moscow next week, according to the website, but Mr. Khodorkovsky, who now lives in Switzerland, is unlikely to attend since his legal status in Russia is uncertain.