Alexandra Asanovna Elbakyan (Russian: Алекса́ндра Аса́новна Элбакя́н, Armenian: Ալեքսանդրա Էլբակյան,[1][2] born 6 November 1988) is a Kazakhstani computer programmer and creator of the website Sci-Hub, which provides free access to research papers without regard for copyright.

[10][11][12][13] Elbakyan was born in Almaty, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (named Alma-Ata in Russian), on 6 November 1988.

[10] Alexandra started programming at the age of 12, making web pages in HTML and later writing in PHP, Delphi, and Assembly languages.

[17] She performed her first computer hack at the age of 14; using SQL injection, she obtained access to all logins and passwords of her home internet provider.

Alexandra became interested in developing brain–computer interfaces and in 2010 she joined the University of Freiburg to work on such a project,[22][2] which eventually led to her summer internship in neuroscience at Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States.

[23] The same year, Elbakyan spoke at the Humanity+ Summit at Harvard on the topic "Brain-Computer Interfacing, Consciousness, and the Global Brain".

[8][28][29] According to a 2016 interview, her neuroscience research was on hold, but she was enrolled in a history of science master's program at a private university in an undisclosed location.

[31] It was characterized by Science correspondent John Bohannon as "an awe-inspiring act of altruism or a massive criminal enterprise, depending on whom you ask.

Additionally, the revoked .SE domain of Sci-Hub, in a different court case, has now been restored due to a successful "ownership verification process.

[41][42][43] In 2018, she asked supporters of Sci-Hub to join their local Pirate Party in order to fight for copyright laws to be changed.

[44] Elbakyan has stated that she is inspired by communist ideals,[5][45] and considers the common ownership of ideas to be essential for scientific progress.

[8] According to her interview, she was attacked on the Internet by 'science popularizers' who supported liberal views that led to the shutdown of Sci-Hub in Russia in 2017 for a few days.

She believes that the foundation was politicized, tied to Russia's liberal opposition, and fit the legal definition of a "foreign agent".

[54] Elbakyan states that after she began to investigate the foundation's activities and published her findings online, she became the target of a cyberharassment campaign by Dynasty's supporters.

[61] Elbakyan has denied this, saying that Sci-Hub "is not in any way directly affiliated with Russian or some other country's intelligence," but noting that "of course, there could be some indirect help.

[13][82][83] Wildlife scientist T R Shankar Raman has stated in an interview: "I am not a fan of the Nobel Prizes, given they have their own biases and have failed to adequately acknowledge scientific contributions of women, for example.

"[84] In 2023 Elbakyan received the Award for Access to Scientific Knowledge from the Electronic Frontier Foundation for her "vital work in helping to ensure that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for all people.