Litvina


Litvina is a village in Setomaa Parish, Võru County in southeastern Estonia. Prior to the 2017 administrative reform of local governments, it was located in Värska Parish.

Name

Litvina was attested in historical sources as Литвиново in 1585, Литвинова in 1781, Litwinna in 1886, and Litvinna in 1904. The linguist Jaak Simm assumed that the village name is derived from the Russian patronymic Литвинов ; the patronymic Литвиновъ was recorded in the 15th to 17th centuries, and the Russian surname Литвин can refer to a Lithuanian, a person from Lithuania or the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, or a Belarusian. This is considered the most likely explanation for the place name by Jüri Truusmann and Anželika Šteingolde.

History

Litvina and nearby villages are notable as part of Estonia that, although not an enclave, was not reachable by road before 2008 without passing through Russian territory for several hundred metres, through an area known as the Saatse Boot. In 2008, a new road from Matsuri to Sesniki was opened, making it possible to reach the area without necessarily passing through the Saatse Boot. However, this is a 15 to 20 km detour if traveling from Värska.

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Litvina include the following: