Svetlana Mesyats is an internationally renowned Classicist specialising in Neoplatonism and the Aristotelian tradition in Late Antiquity. Since 1999 she has held the position of Senior Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. On Tuesday, May 19, 2026, Svetlana was arrested on charges related to the alleged mismanagement of public funds allocated for the preparation of new Russian translations of Aristotle’s works. After spending two days in custody, she was placed under house arrest. The investigation into Svetlana’s case is ongoing and, given the charges, she could face up to 10 years in prison.
Svetlana’s arrest occurred in the context of a long-standing struggle for control over the Institute. Svetlana, who has never held a senior administrative position in the Academy or elsewhere, became a victim of this continuing struggle, despite not being an active participant in it. The accusation of mismanaging funds allocated to a scholarly project in Greek philosophy seems wholly implausible. The scholarly translation of works of ancient Greek philosophical works is both difficult and time-consuming, and ever since Antiquity, Aristotle has had a reputation as one of the most difficult ancient authors, even for ancient Greeks themselves. All those who have been involved in such projects understand that a careful, scholarly translation of Aristotle is a time-consuming process in which unforeseen problems may arise that delay publication. All those who know Svetlana Mesyats will attest that she is a person of unimpeachable honesty and professional conscientiousness. Like her previous publications of translations from ancient Greek and German, Svetlana Mesyats’s new translation of Aristotle will provide a great service to the Russian people and contribute to the high reputation for excellence of the work of the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
We, the international community of philosophers and classical scholars, as well as lovers of wisdom both within and outside academia, call on the Russian authorities to immediately release Svetlana Mesyats from house arrest and to continue any audit of the Institute of Philosophy through ordinary legal procedures, without resorting to such drastic measures.
Freedom for Svetlana Mesyats!
If you wish to sign this open letter please send email to freesvetlanamessiats (at) gmail (dot) com with your full name and affiliation (if any). Please mind the spelling of Svetlana’s name in this email address!
in Russian in French
- Michael Chase, Membre associé, CNRS Centre Jean Pépin-UMR 8230-ENS-PSL, Paris, France
- Andrei Rodin, Membre associé, CNRS SPHERE-UMR 7219 Université Paris-Cité, Paris, France
- Marina Kravtsova, Master student, Université de Lorraine, Metz, France
- Artemy Magun, Senior Researcher, Institute for Global Reconstitution, Berlin, Germany
- Анатолий Ахутин, философ, Киев, Украина
- Ilya Kukulin, cultural historian, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, U.S.A.
- Dmitry A. Shcheglov, independent researcher, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Georgy Kantor, Fellow in St John’s College, Oxford, University, U.K.
- Natalia Kuznetsova, Institute for Linguistic Studies of Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
- Roman Kossak, City University of New York, U.S.A.
- Volodymyr Savchenko, MA student, the Global Centre for Advanced Studies (GCAS), Dublin, Ireland
- Anton Lushankin, Master Researcher, GCAS College, Dublin, Ireland
- Vladislav Degtyarev, associate professor, St Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts, Russia
- Andrei Schetnikov, independent researcher, Novosibirsk, Russia
- Maria Sokolskaya, University of Würzburg, Germany
- Artem Serebryakov, HSE, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
- Daniel Nedolyan, PHD student at Yerevan State University, Armenia
- Лика Карева, магистр философии, независимый исследователь