marina gershman (later solodkin) was born in moscow in the soviet union. solodkin studied at moscow state university, where she gained a phd in economic and social science. she immigrated to israel in 1991. solodkin died of a stroke in a hotel room in latvia on 16 march 2013. she wrote on her facebook page the friday before: "in a few hours' time i will take off for latvia in order to take part in a conference i was invited to by the latvian committee against fascism… lately, neo-nazism is raising its ugly head in eastern europe, in the post-soviet states. we must remain vigilant."