Ilja Sichrovsky
Ilja Sichrovsky is the Founder and Secretary General of the Muslim Jewish Conference (MJC). He is completing his master’s in international development from the University of Vienna. Born in Berlin, he is the son of a German mother and an Austrian father. His father’s family has Jewish roots in Vienna dating back centuries; in fact, one of his Jewish ancestors was knighted by Franz Josef. Ilja was a counselor in Vienna’s Hashomer Hatzair youth movement and was a founding member of Gesher, the youth party within the Austrian Jewish Community. Ilja represented the University of Vienna three times at international Harvard student conferences. On each occasion, he won the Harvard Award for Exemplifying the True Spirit of Diplomacy. Later, he acted as faculty adviser and coach for the Viennese delegation at several conferences and he chaired the peace-building commission at EURASIAMUN. Ilja wrote a scientific article about being a Jewish student studying at an Austrian University six decades after the Holocaust. It was published by the University of Vienna and integrated into curriculum.