About the Author

Ioana Zamfir is a master's student at CERES, Munk School of Global Affairs, majoring in history. Building on her four-years of studying the history of Queer lived experience in the former Eastern European Bloc, her Major Research Project concerns Queer life in Belarus and Moldova as understood from firsthand accounts obtained through private LGBTQ+ archives and interviews conducted in the region. Her dedication and passion for history has led her to travel to over 30 countries both in the region she studies and beyond, to live in the region (in Minsk, Belarus) for a year and a half, and to speak six languages to enhance her research abilities. Her dedication to her work is reflected through her accomplishments that include current revision for publication for Aspasia Journal, the reception of the SSHRC CGS-M and OGS for her current research, and her forthcoming internship at one of Europe's most renowned think tanks, Political Capital, in Budapest, in Spring 2023. Currently working as a Digital Public Historian for University of Toronto Libraries, she is devoted to developing queer history of the region for academia, but also for the people of the region who will benefit from knowing the history of their predecessors.