Semiulla Wafin was a Tatar shopkeeper, leader, publisher and a teacher in Tampere, where for decades he operated a successful fabric shop his father had established in early 1900s. He moved from Russia to Finland as a child. Wafin was interested in Turkish language and taught it to the children of the community. During Continuation War, he took a part in Operation Stella Polaris.
Wafin in 1948.
Zinnetullah and Möshfika Wafin with their children Semiulla and Fatima. (1911).
The Finnish Tatars, locally known as Finlandiyä tatarları, are a Tatar ethnic group and minority in Finland whose community has approximately 600–700 members. The community was formed between the late 1800s and the early 1900s, when Mishar Tatar merchants emigrated from the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate of the Russian Empire, and eventually settled in Finland. Tatars have the main building of their congregation in Helsinki. They have also founded cultural associations in different cities. They are the first Islamic community in Finland.
Imam Enver Yıldırım and Finnish Tatars during a prayer service at the Järvenpää Mosque in 1989.
Tatars in Helsinki, year 1920.
Shop of Ymär Abdrahim, 1920s.
Kazan Tatar war prisoner Mahmut Rahim playing violin in Tampere, year 1944. He is accompanied by Fatih Arat (left), Letfulla Baibulat, Aisa Hakimcan and Bilaletdin Kaader.
