Bogáta Timár, fellow of Lennart Meri Waterfowl Fund scholarship

The winner of the 2024 Lennart Meri Waterfowl Fund scholarship is Bogáta Timár. She is an Estonian-Hungarian junior researcher and PhD student at the University of Tartu. According to the statute, the Fund’s scholarship will be awarded to a young person up to the age of 35 who has distinguished him/herself through creativity and community service for the benefit of Finno-Ugric peoples. According to Tõnu Seilenthal, founder and member of the Fund’s Board of Trustees, Bogáta Timár’s work as one of the young leaders of the Finno-Ugric scientific and cultural landscape over the past two decades is remarkable.

In Hungary

Bogáta, from Hungary, speaks fluent Finnish and Estonian, a good level of Mari and also Udmurt. She has been to three summer schools and two field trips in the Volga-Kama region. She is currently researching the use of possessive suffixes in the Meadow Mari language. She is also the co-creator of the typological database of Finno-Ugric languages in the Volga region (volgatyp.elte.hu) and responsible for the data in Mari.

While living in Hungary, Bogáta was one of the administrators of the Facebook page of the Finno-Ugric Department of Loránd Eötvös University in Budapest. She was actively involved in promoting Finno-Ugric peoples and debunking myths denying the relatedness of the Finno-Ugric languages. Seeing the success of her popularisation work, the Finno-Ugric Department started to organise guest lectures on Finno-Ugric peoples in schools. She herself went to talk at 34 schools.

Work in Estonia

In Estonia, Bogáta Timár has been active in the NGO Hõimulõimed, which she has been running since 2023. Since then, the membership of Hõimulõimed has grown, two Finno-Ugric discos have been organised, she has helped linguist Miikul Pahomov to publish the first grammar of the Lude language, strengthened links with Fenno-Ugria’s Finnish sister organisation Sukukansojen Ystävät, created playlists of Finno-Ugric music on Spotify and Youtube, and much more.

Kännu Peal Käbi is a band that sings in different Finno-Ugric languages. Bogáta has played in the band since 2021. In 2023, the band had 22 concerts, and five this year. She also performs regularly in kindergartens, schools and elsewhere with Anti Lillak, Anna Makeev and Pavel Kutergin.

Since 2022, Bogáta has been a regular columnist for Postimees. She has published 11 articles, mainly trying to explain contemporary events in Hungary.

Societal activity

Bogáta Timár’s work in the social networking site X was particularly appreciated by the members of the Fund’s Board. She currently has over four thousand (4,266) followers. One of the followers, President Toomas Henrik Ilves, has written:

‘I have been following Bogáta’s activities on social media, especially Twitter (now called X) for 3 years. During this time, she has made a number of threads (series of comments) on Finno-Ugric languages and peoples. The topics she covers are very broad (folklore, history, politics, linguistics, etc.), but they are always educational and easy to follow. Because of their high quality, I am happy to share these threads myself. Her work has gained her a significant following and is regularly viewed by tens of thousands of people around the world. I believe that Bogáta’s online activities are valuable and impactful, contributing significantly to the visibility of Finno-Ugric peoples in the online sphere.’

Bogáta herself says:

The study and promotion of Finno-Ugric languages and cultures is the centre of my personal world. I do it whenever I can, not as a job or a burden, but as something I do at every opportunity.

The grant awarded by the Fund’s Board to this enthustiastic and bright doer will perhaps contribute to making life in the Finno-Ugric world more liveable.

Fenno-Ugria congratulates Bogáta Timár on this recognition and wishes her continued success and cooperation!