Estonian scientist Dr. Igor Kopõtin as a guest
Dr. Igor Kopõtin has worked intensively on the national minorities within the Estonian army. His dissertation, published in 2020 under the title “The School of the Nation: The Estonian Army and National Minorities in 1918-1940”, was even recognized with two prizes. The Estonian Ministry of Defense and the War Museum (General Laidon Museum) awarded him the Historiography Prize of the Year 2020 and the Hendrik Sepp Prize, respectively.
Dr. Kopõtin is now visiting Potsdam to continue his research at the Chair of Military History at the University of Potsdam and the ZMSBw (Centre for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr) as a guest researcher. He will focus on the development of military thinking in the armed forces of the first Estonian Republic between 1918 and 1940 and will examine possible German influences as well as military-political relations between Estonia and the German Reich.
Short CV
PhD. Education:
- 2000–2005, Tallinn University, diploma of higher education (teacher of history and social studies)
- 2006– 2010, Tallinn University, MA in history
- 2011–2018, Tallinn University, PhD in history
Professional career:
- 2003–2011, Estonian Defence League and Defence Forces, instructor
- 2011–2014, Lasnamäe Gymnasium, history teacher
- 2014–2021, Estonian Military Academy, lecturer of military history
- 2021–2022, Estonian Military Academy, head of the Chair of Strategy and Innovation
- since 2021 Estonian Military Academy, leading researcher
- 2022-2023, Centre for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr, visiting researcher
Further information on the curriculum vitae and publications of Dr. Igor Kopõtin can be found on the page
of the portal of the Estonian Research Council