Ella Pamfilova

Ella Pamfilova (born 1953-09-12) is a Russian politician, former deputy of the State Duma, candidate for President in 2000 and is currently a member of the Civil Society Institution and Human Rights Council of the Russian Federation.

Pamfilova started her career on the central repair and engineering works in Moscow as an engineer. She went on to become a People's Deputy of the USSR and member of Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

During the period 1991 until 1994, she led The Ministry of Social Care under President Boris Yeltsin. Between 1994 and 1999, Pamfilova was elected three times as member of the Russian Duma.

In 2000 she was the first woman to run as a candidate in a Russian presidential election campaign. However, she faced stiff competition from Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky for the liberal vote, and her share of the vote was very low.

Since 2004 she has been a head of the President Vladimir Putin's Human Right Commission.