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I was born in the Republic of Komi and I personally can see that Komi people have a lot of difficulties needed to be solved. Some other Finno-Ugric peoples have the same situation. It is important to create and maintain appropriate conditions for preserving and developing languages, cultures and education and improving the socio-economic situation. This is one of the reasons why I have decided to dedicate my research to the institutions of ethnopolitics and to examine good and bad practices in this regard. 

I’m originally from Germany, but have been living in Tartu for six years now.
Coming from a bilingual family, where the smaller language (Estonian) was given up in favor of the bigger language (German), I know what it means when the passing on of one’s mother tongue cannot be taken for granted. This is what initially got me interested in smaller Finno-Ugric languages. Besides that, I have also studied Finnish and Hungarian philology in my BA. 

I've lived in the UK, seen immigrants losing connection with their native language and culture and lived myself in the way that I use Estonian only when my mother calls me, which in the end made me understand that my native language is part of me and the reason I returned is that I can't be myself without it.
I like to think of the Finno-Ugric world as something where Estonia is not an obscure place near Russia, but something that serves as an example and ideal for nations that haven't been as fortunate.

Museum pedagogue at the Estonian National Museum

I’m interested in a multi-faceted nature of the Finno-Ugric world, especially the possibilities of bringing the old traditions and ways of thinking into the ever-changing modern life. That’s where the future – or even rebirth, if I may say so – of the Finno-Ugric cultures lie. And the future is in our hands.