The name of our company, the Wiedemanni Translations, is a tribute to the respect Liina Teder, our founder, has for the linguist Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann (1805–1887), whose importance as a researcher and developer of the Estonian language was invaluable, and undoubtedly stretches beyond today’s linguistic landscape. We owe much of our rich, modern written language to this Swedish-German linguist, whose passion for Estonian culture, language, and folklore was especially deep, forming the core of his scientific development.
In addition to his studies of the Estonian language, and writing the first Estonian dictionary and grammar book, Wiedemann was one of the most prolific Finno-Ugrist scholars of his time. Thanks to his research, extensive studies were carried out on the Livionian, Votic, Komi, Udmurt, Mari, and other Finno-Ugric languages, alongside Estonian. He received an honorary doctorate from Tartu University; he was a member of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences; and he was an honorary member of many other scientific organisations.