This is an obituary for Professor Ol’ga Ivanovna Zhigalina, the well-known Russian Kurdologist and Iranist and director of the Kurdish Cabinet at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Science (Institút vostokovédenija Rossíjskoj akadémii naúk) in Moscow, who sadly passed away at her place of work on 23rd October, 2013. Over four decades Professor Zhigalina made an immense contribution to the field of Kurdology and the modern history of the Kurds, and her work continues to resonate in this field.