Svetlana Pletnyova

Svetlana Alexandrovna Pletneva was a Russian archaeologist and historian. Like Lev Gumilev, she was a student of Mikhail Artamonov, although she discarded many of the former's theories as mere speculations. Pletneva was the world's leading authority on the Khazars and authored numerous books about early medieval inhabitants of the Pontic–Caspian steppe. She won the USSR State Prize in 1986.