For Prof. Svetlana Zheludeva’s working at the Institute of Crystallography meant taking full responsibility; to have all the tasks fulfilled, to present the Institute at its best she had to be very demanding to others and to herself. She was so enthusiastic about everything – from the program called “Megaproject” (growing crystals for industrial purposes), in which IC RAS played the leading part, to organizing the next National Conference on Application the X-rays, Synchrotron Radiation, Neutrons, and Electrons for Studying Materials, and to updating the expositions of IC RAS History Museum or the stores of the Institute’s Library. Prof. Zheludeva was always assertive in stating her opinion and knew how to encourage her colleagues to overcome all sorts of problems, in her turn sparing no effort and no authorities. International contacts of the Institute (she was responsible for them as well) became really extensive in the last ten years of her life, and the relations between members of IC RAS and their foreign colleagues were especially friendly, due to Prof. Zheludeva’s reputation of a true scientist, member of the Bureau of the National Committee of crystallographers of Russia, representative of our country in the European Crystallographic Association.

Prof. Zheludeva was very close to the young researchers of IC RAS, untiring in supporting them; with her usual kindness and sincerity she encouraged the initiatives and projects of our graduate and postgraduate students and postdoc researchers.

She also took part in working out the strategy of development of science in our country, being deputy chairperson of the working group of the direction “Industry of Nanosystems and Nanomaterials” of the scientific and coordination council of the federal target program “Research and Development of the Priority Areas of Science and Technology in Russia for 2007– 2012”. Prof. Zheludeva was member of the Commission of the Russian Academy of Sciences on nanotechnologies. This huge scientific-organizational workload gained her reputation and profound respect of colleagues, but at the same time cost her a lot of effort.

Svetlana’s image, the unity of patriotism and internationalist outlook in her worldview, can best be described in the terms of Walt Whitman’s “Letter to a Russian”: “the fervent element of manly friendship <…> , the deathless aspirations at the inmost centre of each great community, so vehement, so mysterious, so abysmic”.

Sometimes Svetlana looked tired, absorbed in her thoughts and preoccupations. She could be quite abrupt, but only with those whom she loved and respected – in cases when they were mistaken, in her opinion. Whereas in happier moments she was radiant with joy, a charming woman who could even thank you with a kiss for some kind of aesthetic pleasure. She had a refined taste in art, literature, poetry. I remember her telling me that I was hiding my talent for poetry – she was impressed by my poem “To my parents”. It was somehow in harmony with her attitude to her parents, children, to people in general – to the things she wanted so much to give them and to get in return.