Dear Colleagues,

This year is the 130th birthday anniversary of Alexey Andreyevich Bykov, an Honored Culture Worker of Russia, educated in the Corps of Pages, a graduate of the Saint Petersburg University (Arab history and philology), an outstanding expert on Oriental coins. Almost 30 years, from 1945 to 1974, he was the head of the numismatics department at the Hermitage. Its main collection was formed before 1917 at the Asiatic Museum and was a source of its legitimate pride.

Oriental numismatics is the main theme of the 48th Annual Session of St Petersburg Arabists. As usual, we accept presentations on a wide range of issues of Arabic Studies and related disciplines. The Annual Session will take place on April 6 and 8, 2026, on Monday and Wednesday, at the Green Hall of the Novo-Mikhailovsky Palace (IOM RAS, 18, Dvortsovaya embankment, 191186, St Petersburg, Russia). The working language of the conference is Russian.

We invite you to submit presentation topics and brief annotations for this Session by March 27, 2026 to Serge A. Frantsouzoff (Chair) by email: serge.frantsouzoff@yahoo.fr
Contact phone number: +7 (921) 649-52-03

Sincerely yours,

Serge A. Frantsouzoff, Doctor of Sciences in History,
Department Head, Deputy Director for Academic Affairs, IOM RAS
Chair of the 48th Annual Session of St Petersburg Arabists

Dina V. Zaytseva, Junior Researcher
Secretary of the 48th Annual Session of St Petersburg Arabists