WMatthias Alexander Castrén was a Finnish Swedish ethnologist and philologist who was a pioneer in the study of the Uralic languages. He was an educator, author and linguist at the University of Helsinki. Castrén is best known for his research in the linguistics and ethnography of the Finnic, Ugric and Samoyedic peoples.
WKarl (Kai) Reinhold Donner was a Finnish linguist, ethnographer and politician. He carried out expeditions to the Ugric and Samodeic peoples in Siberia 1911–1914 and was docent of Uralic languages at the University of Helsinki from 1924. He was, among other things, a pioneer of modern anthropological fieldwork methods, though his work is little known in the English-speaking world.
WArvid Oskar Gustaf Genetz was a Finnish politician, poet and linguist. He wrote under the pseudonym Arvi Jännes. His best known poems are "Herää Suomi”, ”Karjala” and ”Väinölän lapset”. He was a member of the Senate of Finland from 1901–1905.
WUno Nils Oskar Harva was a Finnish religious scholar, who founded the discipline in Finland together with Rafael Karsten. A major figure in North Eurasian ethnology and study of religion, Harva is best known for his body of work on Finno-Ugric and Altaic religions. He is considered to be one of the foremost 20th-century European interpreters of shamanism.
WToivo Immanuel Itkonen was a Finnish historian and linguist, specializing in the Sami languages and the history of the Sami people.
WPaavo Ilmari Ravila was a Finnish linguist and rector of the University of Helsinki.
WPekka Lars Kalervo Sammallahti is a professor of Sámi languages at the Giellagas Institute at the University of Oulu. A prolific writer, he has published more than 100 books and articles related to Sápmi and the various Sámi languages. Sammallahti has also been a driving force in the work done to create official written languages for a number of Sámi languages.
WEemil Nestor Setälä was a Finnish politician and once the Chairman of the Senate of Finland, from September 1917 to November 1917, when he was author of the Finnish Declaration of Independence.
WAnders Johan Sjögren was a Finnish linguist, ethnographer, historian and explorer. He is known especially for discovering the Veps people.