In 1970 graduated from RGISI. Elena Gorfunkel has been teaching in RGISI since 1989.

Her classes are “Seminar on Theatre history”, “History of Foreign Theatre”, “Teaching methodology”.

She is a member of the expert boards and jury of theatre festivals: “Christmas parade”, “Beginning”, “Siberian transit”, “King Festival”, “The young theaters of Russia”, etc.

Expert of festivals “Golden mask” and “Harlequin”. Elena Gorfunkel takes part in Russian conferences regularly.

She is the author of the monograph Smoktunovsky (1990), the collection Tovstonogov’s premiers (1991), Tovstonogov. Collective portrait (2006) and Tovstonogov is rehearsing and teaching (2007), monograph Genius of Smoktunovsky (2015) and Tovstonogov’s directing (2015).

Author of articles in the encyclopedia "Modern history of Russian cinema", collections "Actors-legends of St. Petersburg", "from Rasputin to Putin", in collections on the history of Russian and foreign theatre, on the problems of modern cinema and theater, etc.