Yelyzaveta Protopopova has been awarded the 2026 DAAD Prize for International Students. The prize, worth €1,000, honours international students for outstanding academic achievement and cultural engagement. Agnes Wegner, the Rector of the HGB, presented the prize on Friday 17 July 2026 during the graduation ceremony.
Yelyzaveta Protopopova was born in 2002 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. After graduating from secondary school in 2019, she began a Bachelor’s degree in Chinese Language and Literature at the Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, which she completed online after moving to Germany following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. She arrived in Germany in 2022. At the HGB, she initially studied for two semesters in the specialist illustration class under Prof. Thomas Müller and artistic assistant Katja Schwalenberg, and subsequently under Prof. Marion Kliesch and Prof. Maureen Mooren.
The citation reads:
“In her artistic work, Yelyzaveta Protopopava explores memory, war, identity and social responsibility. In doing so, she succeeds in conveying personal and social themes in a way that makes them accessible and comprehensible even to people without her background of experience. This combination of personal experience, critical reflection and creative expression characterises Yelyzaveta Protopopava’s work in a distinctive way and represents an important quality within an extremely challenging and highly emotional discourse. A common thread running through her work is the understanding that collective traumas are passed down through generations and become part of cultural identity. In this respect, Yelyzaveta Protopopava fosters understanding between people who, through no fault of their own but solely because of their origins, find themselves in a conflict and experience exclusion. She makes a significant contribution, both within her sphere of influence at the HGB and beyond, to overcoming these barriers and building bridges of understanding. For years, Yelyzaveta Protopopava has also been supporting refugees as an interpreter in Berlin reception centres, helping people upon their arrival and getting their bearings in Germany.”
The DAAD Prize may be awarded to universities and higher education institutions with more than 30 international students enrolled. The selection of the prize winner is the responsibility of the respective higher education institutions. The prize has been awarded at the HGB Leipzig since 2011.
Yelyzaveta Protopopova was born in 2002 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. After graduating from secondary school in 2019, she began a Bachelor’s degree in Chinese Language and Literature at the Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, which she completed online after moving to Germany following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. She arrived in Germany in 2022. At the HGB, she initially studied for two semesters in the specialist illustration class under Prof. Thomas Müller and artistic assistant Katja Schwalenberg, and subsequently under Prof. Marion Kliesch and Prof. Maureen Mooren.
The citation reads:
“In her artistic work, Yelyzaveta Protopopava explores memory, war, identity and social responsibility. In doing so, she succeeds in conveying personal and social themes in a way that makes them accessible and comprehensible even to people without her background of experience. This combination of personal experience, critical reflection and creative expression characterises Yelyzaveta Protopopava’s work in a distinctive way and represents an important quality within an extremely challenging and highly emotional discourse. A common thread running through her work is the understanding that collective traumas are passed down through generations and become part of cultural identity. In this respect, Yelyzaveta Protopopava fosters understanding between people who, through no fault of their own but solely because of their origins, find themselves in a conflict and experience exclusion. She makes a significant contribution, both within her sphere of influence at the HGB and beyond, to overcoming these barriers and building bridges of understanding. For years, Yelyzaveta Protopopava has also been supporting refugees as an interpreter in Berlin reception centres, helping people upon their arrival and getting their bearings in Germany.”
The DAAD Prize may be awarded to universities and higher education institutions with more than 30 international students enrolled. The selection of the prize winner is the responsibility of the respective higher education institutions. The prize has been awarded at the HGB Leipzig since 2011.