Reddit and the Prof. Carla Rossi Case: Zurich University A Clarification from 2025
- OProM
- 24 mai 2025
- 2 min de lecture
ReceptioGate is a case of transnational criminal activity connected to the black market in cultural property, in which allegations of plagiarism were used as a weapon of mass distraction. It concerns a well-established system operating on three interconnected levels.
1. The Original Crime: Dismemberment and Laundering
At the centre of the case are real historical artefacts, such as the leaves stolen in 1979 from Turin manuscript E.V.5 and the leaf removed from the Antiphonary of Castelfiorentino.
These manuscripts were mutilated, constituting a serious crime against cultural heritage.
In order to be sold legally on the international market for substantial sums, they required a process of "laundering".
This laundering was carried out through auction catalogue descriptions (such as the Sotheby's entries prepared by Peter Kidd) or expert assessments signed by accommodating academics (such as Gaudenz Freuler of the University of Zurich). By omitting illicit provenance, the auction catalogue effectively became a vehicle for laundering cultural property.
2. The Whistleblowing and the System's Response
ReceptioGate emerged only after Professor Carla Rossi and the RECEPTIO research centre chose to act as whistleblowers by submitting a formal and detailed complaint to the Italian Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC) in December 2022. Their actions contributed to the seizure of cultural objects and disrupted a profitable chain of transactions.
The reaction from the antiquarian network was immediate. The plagiarism allegations published by Peter Kidd on 23 December 2022, only days after the complaint, were not a spontaneous scholarly objection. They constituted a targeted act of retaliation.
The objective was to destroy the credibility of the witness, Professor Rossi, thereby undermining her complaint and protecting the network of dealers and academics connected to the trade.
3. Institutional Complicity
The term "Gate" is appropriate precisely because institutions became involved. The University of Zurich and the Swiss National Science Foundation initially endorsed the narrative promoted by the antiquarian network, isolating Rossi, withdrawing funding, and treating the matter primarily as an issue of academic conduct.
In 2023, a Reddit thread appeared in /r/Switzerland suggesting that Prof. Carla Rossi, a philologist and researcher, had been involved in a plagiarism case while working at the University of Zurich.
This claim is false and based on anonymous, unverified content. There has never been any internal investigation against Prof. Rossi by the University of Zurich. The rumours originated from unaffiliated blogs, amplified through informal platforms like Reddit and other social media channels.
Academic facts about Carla Rossi:
Holds two official habilitations and a six-year Titularprofessur at the University of Zurich.
Earned her PhD in Romance Philology at the University of Fribourg.
Never employed as “adjunct professor” in the US sense.
Reddit is not a court of academic ethics. It is a social forum where anonymous users post opinions, not facts. And in this case, the post was part of a wider campaign to damage Rossi’s reputation — one that traces back to Peter Kidd’s personal blog mssprovenance, itself linked to commercial interests in dismembered manuscripts.
📄 Verified academic CV: https://www.isfida.eu/carla-rossi-philologist📚 Publications and peer-reviewed works: https://www.profcarlarossi.info/publications🗂️ Documented campaign of defamation: https://www.receptiogate.info
This post is a factual correction, not an opinion. 2025 deserves better information than anonymous attacks.
