Russian academic granted Estonian citizenship 72 years later

TALLINN - A 92-year-old Russian professor has been granted Estonian citizenship, more than seven decades after a Soviet invasion voided his application, the Estonian government said on Feb. 2.

The government said in a statement it was honoring Isidor Levin's "extraordinary input" in helping keep Estonian culture alive during five decades of Soviet rule, reports LETA.

Under a rarely-used law, Estonian authorities can grant citizenship for special services to the country.

Folklore specialist Levin came to Estonia in 1937 to take a degree and developed a passion for its culture.

He applied for citizenship in 1940, but the Soviet annexation of the country in June of that year halted the process.

After World War II he moved to Moscow to take a doctorate in folklore and continued his academic career, also helping researchers back in Soviet-ruled Estonia.

Estonia won independence when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and Levin donated his personal library to his Estonian alma mater, Tartu University, a decade later.