Siberian Finns (Finnish: Siperiansuomalaiset, Siberian Finnish: korlakat) are Finnish people living in Siberia, mainly descendants of Ingrian Finns, who were deported into Siberia. According to some estimates up to 30,000 Ingrian Finns were deported to Siberia, a third of whom died either on their way to the various labor camps or soon after arrival.[1] The first Finns in Siberia were a group of serfs who were deported into Siberia in 1803 and formed the village of Ryzhkovo, which still has a Finnish population.[2][1][3] Siberian Finns lived close to Izhorians and Estonians.[4] Because the ground was good for farming, and Finns speaking Finnish in their villages, Siberia had become a new home for many Finns, and moving back to Finland was too big of a risk economically to do.[5] Many Siberian Finns have an Estonian passport, because it was better to be Estonian than Finnish in the Soviet Union.
![](http://upload.luquay.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Siberia_Federal_Subjects.png/461px-Siberia_Federal_Subjects.png)
The Siberian Finnish dialect is dying, however it is still spoken, and people still often greet using a Finnish expression "päivää".[2]
Statistics
editBetween 1826 and 1888, a total of 3,321 Finns were sent into Siberia, of which only 462 were women.[5]
In 1893, Tobolsk had: 1057 Finnish speakers, Tomsk: 136, Sakha: 118, Zabaykalsky Krai: 211 and Irkutsk had 63 Finnish speakers.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Raitio, Lasse (7 April 2005). "Viimeiset siperiansuomalaiset valokuvina". Turun Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 5 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Itäprojekti matkaa siperiansuomalaisten uinuviin kyliin". yle.fi (in Finnish).
- ^ "Siperiassa asuu yhä suomalaisia". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). December 15, 2005.
- ^ Viikberg, Jüri (January 1, 1989). "Suomalais-virolaisia kielisuhteita Siperiassa". Virittäjä (in Finnish). 93 (1): 79 – via journal.fi.
- ^ a b Mainio, Aleksi (15 January 2020). "Kansallisarkiston esiselvitys suomalaisista Venäjällä 1917–1953" (in Finnish). Kansallisarkisto. Liite 1. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
Further reading
edit- Haarala, Ruslan Siperiansuomalaiset ja siperiansuomi. "Juttele eestis tai suomeks, da e ryssäki käyb". University of Helsinki (2005). Dissertation on the dialect spoken by Siberian Finns.