Svetlana Pletnyova

Svetlana Alexandrovna Pletnyova (also spelled Pletneva and Pletnyeva; , ; 1 April 1926, Vyatka – 20 November 2008, Moscow) was a Russian archaeologist and historian. She was the world's leading authority on the Khazars and authored numerous books about early medieval inhabitants of the Pontic–Caspian steppe. She also directed excavations of the Tmutarakan fortress on the Black Sea coast.

In 1988, she succeeded Boris Rybakov as the editor-in-chief of the journal Soviet Archaeology.