Museum Cat
Achilles
c. 2015–present
The deaf white cat of the Hermitage who moonlighted as Russia's football-predicting oracle
- Owner
- State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
- Years
- c. 2015–present
- Known for
- Museum Cat
Achilles is one of the dozens of cats employed as working mousers in the vast cellars of the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg — a feline tradition dating back to the 18th century, when Empress Elizabeth first brought cats in to protect the imperial art collection from rodents. A striking white cat with blue eyes, Achilles is also completely deaf, a trait common in white, blue-eyed cats, and it was that deafness that unexpectedly made him famous.
When the 2018 FIFA World Cup came to Russia, Achilles was appointed the tournament's official animal oracle. Before matches he was offered two bowls of food, each marked with a competing nation's flag, and whichever bowl he chose to eat from was declared his prediction for the winner. His keepers argued that his deafness made him the perfect prophet: unable to hear the roar of the crowd or the opinions of fans, he could choose with pure, unbiased feline instinct.
Achilles correctly called several high-profile results, and the world's press delighted in the spectacle, drawing comparisons with Paul the octopus of the 2010 World Cup. Beyond the fun, he shone a spotlight on the Hermitage's long-running cat programme, which cares for and rehomes the museum's working cats — proving that even a deaf basement mouser can become an international celebrity.