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EESTI ELU reedel, 24. aprillil 2020 — Friday, April 24, 2020
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VEMU’s Online Lecture: “Liberation or salvation? The Vormsi/Ormsö Estonian Swedes between Swedish Evangelism and Russian Orthodoxy” Vincent Teetsov On April 8th at 7:00 PM, VEMU (the Museum of Estonians Abroad), hosted a fascinating online lecture con ducted by professor Trond Ove Tøllefsen of Uppsala University. The time period of focus was from approximately 1861 to 1887, during which the Swedish-speaking Estonians of the island of Vormsi (named Ormsö in Swedish) navigated the everyday sociopolitical minefield of land owners, heri tage, missionaries, and their own local identity. If Estonia’s history is characterized by the coming and going of outside powers, then the island of Vormsi is like the “CliffsNotes” of the historical Estonian ex perience, summarizing how Estonians have strategized their way of life, with a stubbornness to stay alive and persevere. Mr. Tøllefsen, Dr. James White (research fellow at Tartu University), and their research team have dedicated significant effort into investigating primary sources about Estonian Swedes’ lives. This is a big deal, because it’s a topic with limited resources in both Estonian and English. They’re also studying primary sources on the influence of Russian Orthodoxy in the Baltic region, culminating in the “Baltic Orthodoxy” research project. The inhabitants of Vormsi called themselves “Aibo”, which meant “island dweller” in their dialect of Swedish. Swe dish archaeologists have sug gested that the Aibo arrived on Vormsi in 1206, at the time of the Northern Crusades. Though privileged and free at first, their rights dwindled under the increasing control of the von Stackelberg family, taking place at the same time as Russian rule. Legend has it that the island of Vormsi was won by the von Stackelberg baron (a Baltic German nobleman) in a game of dice with a French
Reinsalu: Russia… (Continued from page 8)
situation in Crimea, he said. Estonia, which holds a seat on the UNSC for 2020 and 2021, will obtain the organiza I am interested in purchasing Estonian art that was created prior to WW II. Artists of interest include: Ants Laikmaa, Eerik Haa mer, Konrad Mägi, Oskar Kallis and Eduard Wiiralt. If you wish to discuss a possible sale, please write to me at laurihillar@gmail.com or Hillar Lauri, 9 Baker Ave., Toronto, ON M4V 2A9.
count. The Aibo led an increas ingly poor existence with men fishing or working on the estate of the baron, and women farm ing. Farmers were obligated to work up to 150 days per year for the baron. The working relationship with the various barons was brutish and sometimes violent, including one documented in stance in 1830, where the Baron sped through a road on Vormsi in a sled; swearing, whipping, and spitting on the farmers who bowed their heads in respect. Despite this relationship, the Aibo islanders made the most of the situation. They would frequently take back supplies that were taken from them by the baron. And when the land owners became too much to bear, five men from Vormsi travelled to Stockholm in 1861 to request the help of King Charles XV. This created a media sensation in Sweden that caused Charles XV to send a letter to the Czar of Russia. A promising response at first, this heightened awareness led to three years of invasive Russian military presence and prompted the arrival of the Swedish Evangelical Mission in 1873. Things didn’t always go as the Estonian Swedes had planned. Lars Johan Österblom was sent to Vormsi with the official intention to educate the island ers, just as Thore Emmanuel Thorén had done on the island of Noarootsi (Nuckö in Swedish, now a peninsula north of Haapsalu). But as mission aries, there was also the aim to convert to the people of Vormsi to a more Reformed Protestant belief system and a stricter way of life. Though regarded with suspicion at first, Österblom leveraged a relationship with the Baron to enable recogniz able changes on the island, from the installation of chimneys in homes to increased literacy. Nonetheless, at the same time, Österblom’s theology damaged many of the traditions that were once a part of life on
Vormsi, including secular songs, the talharpa (bowed lyre), torupill (bagpipe), and long wedding festivities filled with dancing and alcohol. Some of the strongest traces of these tra ditions come from the island of Ruhnu in the Baltic Sea. While revivals weakened the strong community bonds of Vormsi, the people of Ruhnu tricked their way into an existence with less meddling. The religious division on Vormsi triggered non-revivalists to beseech the help of the Baltic Orthodox church. The results of their response in 1886 vary depending on the source, with anywhere between 200 and 550 Aibo people converting to Ortho dox Christianity, with churches and two new schools also being built. This conversion coincided with the purchase of the whole island from the widow of Otto Friedrich von Stackelberg. The Russian Czar cancelled the debt attached to the land on Vormsi, and thereafter, the island be came wealthier once again, un til the events of the Second World War forced many of them to flee to Sweden. On the whole, the Estonian Swedes of Vormsi appear to have swung between three to four identities throughout the period of study: strict and moderate Lutheranism, Ortho dox Christianity, and the identity of their own island community. They did what was necessary to improve their everyday condi tions and rid themselves of nui sances. Sometimes the Vormsi people’s strategies of protection backfired, but ultimately the people of the island achieved greater levels of freedom. I would like to thank VEMU, the Finnish Studies Program (University of Toronto), and SWEA Toronto for organizing this intriguing lecture. I would highly suggest anyone to watch the lecture (https://www.you tube.com/watch?v=va9OgwEV sYA) and hear about this period of history in greater detail.
tion’s rotating presidency in May, when it also plans to dis cuss security threats in Europe, the foreign ministry says.
uptake of e-services.” Ukraine’s foreign minister provided the meeting with an overview of the situation in that country, and participants dis cussed ways for the EU to pro vide support. The video conference was organised by Denmark, ahead of Wednesday’s video-link meet ing of EU foreign ministers, which will also focus on the situation in Ukraine. The meeting agenda also includes Eastern Partnership (EaP), an EU initiative related to its relationship with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, and Moldova, as well as Ukraine.
Reinsalu praised Ukraine for its continued implementation of democratic processes, despite the coronavirus crisis that re quires additional resources in the country. “Ukraine has demonstrated that it is serious about its ambitious reform plans. The COVID-19 crisis shows all the more clearly that those reforms must continue. As a part of moving towards greater trans parency and efficiency, we encourage Ukraine to continue with the development and
Where does Skype fit into the video calling landscape? Vincent Teetsov Social distancing has put increased pressure on tele communications software and has made people around the world reconsider what work is possible to complete from home. How can we most effec tively keep in communication with colleagues, and what about family members? For those who are able to work at home, video conference applications have become a life line, especially since March 25th, when 14 day self-isolation has been required for anyone entering Canada by air, sea, or land. By the end of February, video conferencing app Zoom in creased its number of users by 2.22 million since the start of 2020. Cisco Webex, one of Zoom’s competitors, expanded two and a half times from February to the end of March. Then there’s Facebook Mes senger, WhatsApp, and Google Hangouts – to name just a few. But what about the beloved, Estonian-programmed app Skype? Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström created Skype in 2003, in cooperation with three Estonian developers: Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu, and Jaan Tallinn. Skype was one of the most powerful Voice over Internet Protocol technology de velopments of the early 2000s. According to CNET, it was the 6th most downloaded app from 2010 to 2019. Skype was then acquired by eBay in 2005, and then most re cently by Microsoft in 2011. Though development and a sizable proportion of operations are still based in Estonia, the handiwork of its original crea tors is missing. With changes made to Skype’s interface and features over the years, some users began to consider the plethora of other options out there. In these conditions, Zoom initially competed with Skype by offering a “freemium” ac count model that allowed for up
to 100 call participants with a 40 minute time limit. At this point, Skype allows for up to 50 people to talk at once for free, with no time limit. The bar keeps being set higher, but rea listically, how many people will a user need to talk to at once? How long do group conversa tions need to be? Isolation from friends, family, and the work place puts higher demands on this technology. Hacking and other security issues have afflicted Zoom as usership has increased, leading institutions like NASA and Google to ban the use of the app by employees. In response, Skype has introduced the “Meet Now” feature, that allows users to access a call with a specific link, without requiring a user to download the app or create an account. Skype, like its competitors, is experiencing much greater call volumes during the epoch of social distancing, and the “Meet Now” feature may re trieve users back from its com petitors. Skype is in the thick of a heated competition of Video Calling apps that could con tinue indefinitely, if remote jobs become more prevalent. And just like many success ful tech companies, the Esto nians who first developed Skype’s backend have shifted their focus onto new projects, from artificial intelligence to investment firms. Inventions take on a life of their own, and then the most in ventors can do is pretty much just watch to see what happens. It’ll be interesting to see what this new era of communication and technology brings.
