Estonian scientist Dr. Igor Kopõtin as a guest
Dr. Igor Kopõtin has previously researched issues relating to national minorities in the Estonian army. His dissertation was published in 2020 under the title “The School of the Nation: The Estonian Army and National Minorities in 1918-1940” by the Estonian National Archives. The monograph was awarded two prestigious prizes as the best military history study: the Historiography Prize of the Year 2020 and the Hendrik Sepp Prize of the Estonian Ministry of Defense and the War Museum (General Laidon Museum).
In Potsdam, Dr. Kopõtin is researching the development of military thinking in the armed forces of the first Estonian Republic between 1918 and 1940, including possible German influences and the military-political connections between Estonia and the German Reich.
In recent years, Dr. Kopõtin has also worked as a guest researcher in close cooperation with the ZMSBw (Centre for Military History and Social Sciences of the German Armed Forces) and could present his findings, for example, in the essay “Eine auf Deutschland orientierte bewaffnete Neutralität. Estonia's military policy cooperation with the German Reich in the 1930s”.
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