Karelian language
After the creation of the Okrug, a large effort started in creation of a written Tver Karelian language, led by the philologist Dmitry Bubrikh. Tver Karelian first used the Latin alphabet, but in September 1937 central authorities ordered that it should be switched to the Cyrillic alphabet. In January 1938, during the Great Purge, Bubrikh was arrested and charged with counter-revolutionary activity. He was sentenced to death, but his sentence was subsequently commuted. Later, other specialists working on the Tver Karelian language, as well as the authorities of the Okrug, were arrested. Most of them were subsequently acquitted.