The Role of Religion in the Connection between Estonian Settlements in Abkhazia and the Estonian Homeland
Journal: Acta Historica Tallinnensia
Year: 2021

The Estonian settlements in Abkhazia developed in the 1880s, and soon after were taken under the wing of the Russian Lutheran Church. Since most of the Lutheran pastors in tsarist Russia had been educated at the University of Tartu, and many of them came from the Baltic provinces, they often also spoke Estonian. The article examines the relations of the settlers with the pastors, some of whom had previously served in Estonia. It also looks at the role played by the parish clerk/schoolteachers of