Originally from Gatchina near St. Petersburg, Sergei Nikitin studied the physics of semiconductors at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute and worked at scientific research institutes in Leningrad and Gatchina. Sergei had many occupations, some scientific, and others artistic or humanitarian. He worked in museums and old Russian estates as a painter-decorator for a Leningrad restoration organisation. He learned English through the Beatles’ songs. Sergei has been involved in historical research work on “Quakers and Russia” since 1996. In 1999, he took up the position of director of the Moscow office of the international Quaker organisation, Friends House Moscow. From 2003 and for the next 14 years he worked as the head of Amnesty International’s representative office in Russia. In 2017 Sergei retired and moved to the UK.