Alexei Kondratiev (February 15, 1949–May 28, 2010) was an American author, linguist, and teacher of Celtic languages, folklore and culture.
[4] He contributed significant portions of the text used on the website of the Celtic League's American Branch and book reviews for the organization's magazine, Keltoi.
[5][6] On the File 770 science fiction fandom blog, Ken Gale reported that Kondratiev "spoke over 60 languages and was fluent in 13 to 20 of them".
[3][11][12][13] A graduate of New York's Columbia University (anthropology and linguistics), Kondratiev also studied Celtic philology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Paris.
During an interview at the Etheracon convention in Poughkpeepsie in January 1993, Kondratiev commented about how Harrow practiced a "heretic" form of Gardnerian Wicca.
When he met Harrow, Kondratiev still considered himself a Christian, and continued to identify himself as such throughout the 1980s while attending Neopagan religious ceremonies.
[8] His knowledge of Celtic mythology and language made Kondratiev a frequent guest speaker at conventions, conferences and retreats, especially events with an emphasis on magic, Neopaganism or Wicca.
[10] In more recent years, Kondratiev has been a guest at the Sacred Space and Ecumenicon conferences in Maryland, and the CWPN Harvest Gathering in Connecticut.
[15] As a featured guest at the Chesapeake Pagan Summer Gathering (Maryland) in 2008, he recited 108 names of the Hindu goddess, Kali, at a puja led by Len Rosenberg.