Irina Alekseeva

 Engaged in tran slation when a student. Wrote her graduation paper (“Demon” by Mikhail Yu. Lermontov in German translations”) and PhD thesis dedicated to bilingualism in the worksy Carolina Pavlova under the supervision of a well-known theorist and practician of translation and interpretation Andrey V. Fyodorov. At the end of the 70ies worked as a translator in the Patent bureau of the Leningrad State University. Teaching at the Leningrad State University (now St Petersburg State University) since 1980. In the 80ies and 90ies specialized in the legal, economic, memoir and literary translation. Among translations published in the 80ies, 90ies and the beginning of the XXI c. there are works of J. L. Tieck, E.-T.-A. Hoffmann, G.Keller, G.Hauptmann, G.Trakl, H.Hesse, H.Broch, R.Musil, H.Böll, R.Menasse, I.Tielsch, P.Nison, E.Jelinek and many others. In 2006 published “A Complete Collection of Letters by W. A. Mozart” (together with her former student A. V. Boyarkina) and translated most of the letters. Since mid 90ies also engaged in consecutive and simultaneous interpretation (in particular, at conferences and forums Petersburg Dialogue – 2003, Christain Service in Hospitals – 1999, Modern Legal Protection of Information Sources – 2004, etc.). Since 1980 has been teaching practice and theory of translation and interpretation. Since the end of the 90ies has published a number of books on the theory of translation and interpretation and methods of translators and interpreters training, including: «Теория перевода» («Translatology») 1998; «Профессиональный тренинг переводчика» («Professional Training of Interpreters/Translators») 2000, «Устный перевод. Немецкий язык» («Interpretation. The German Language») 2002, «Введение в переводоведение» 2004 (Introduction into Translatology), «Устный перевод речей» («Interpretation of Speeches») 2005, «Письменный перевод. Немецкий язык» («Translation. The German Language») 2006, «Текст и перевод» («The Text and Its Traslation/Interpretation») 2008 – all in Russian. Author of more than a hundred research papers. Since 2000 has been conducting workshops on organisation of education in the field of interpretation/translation and the methods of interpreters/translators training in Russia and other countries. In 2004 awarded an Honorary Diploma of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.

Angelique Antonova

Angelique Antonova graduated from Herzen University in 1997, majoring in Philology. Simultaneously she obtained a major in Global Economy from St. Petersburg State University. She began to practice translation and cross-cultural communication during her student years. She earned her PhD with a dissertation on Russian Orthodox Church terminology in original English texts and dictionaries which she developed under the supervision of Prof. Victor Kabakchi, a recognized expert on cross-cultural communication. She has taught at Herzen University since 1997. She has authored 32 papers on cross-cultural communication and translation and edited a number of joint publications on the training of translators and interpreters. Angelique Antonova has substantial experience of working as an in-house and freelance translator, interpreter, and editor with Russian, English, and German. In 2008 she followed her passion for cultivating young talent and became Deputy Director of the St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation at Herzen University.

Noel Muylle

From 1953‒1964 he studied classics, commerce, and economics, followed by a post graduate course in conference interpreting and translation at the Sorbonne. After a career of 40 years with the European Commission, he retired on August 1, 2004, as Honorary Director General of the European Commission.

As a manager, Noel held responsibilities for training, selection, and further training of staff involvement, i.e. quality control and staff career development; he was in charge of relations with the media as well as ensuring working relations with the other European Institutions and International Organisations (IAMLADP) with which DG Interpretation works closely. He regularly chaired selection panels and open competition juries, and participated closely in screening and audit procedures  within the DG. He advised on the building and equipment of conference centres of the Institutions, and introduced the first IT system (SAFIR) in the Service. He set up the European Master in Conference Interpreting (EMCI) and advised authorities and universities in candidate countries, as well as in China, Vietnam, and Russia on the same.

Noel is a member of the ELC (European Language Council), IAPCO (the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers), the CIUTI (Inter-University Conference for Translation and Interpreting), LISA (the Localisation Industry Standards Association), the IAMLADP (International Annual Meeting on Language Arrangements, Documentation and Publications), the Institute of Linguists, the High-Level Group on Multilingualism of EC, and DYLAN (Dynamics in Languages, a R&D program financed by EU).

He is currently engaged in a study on the training of language mediators in Africa on behalf of the UN and EU. He is an active member of the Belgian Branch of the European Movement (MEB) for which he held the post of Secretary General for many years.