Ethnic groups of Russia: Udmurts

About 380,000 members of this Finno-Ugric ethnic group live in Russia, mainly in the Udmurt Republic in the Pre-Ural region. The word ‘murt’ in the ‘Udmurt’ name has Iranian roots and means ‘person’, while the meaning of ‘ud’ remains a mystery. In the past, Russians referred to the Udmurts as ‘Votyaks’.

The Udmurts have been practising beekeepers since ancient times. They believed that bees were the souls of sinless people and killing them was considered a grave sin. Udmurt folklore even includes "bee" songs that imitate the buzzing of these insects.

‘Gerber’ is one of the main national holidays of the Udmurts. It marks the end of spring fieldwork and its name translates from Udmurt as "after the plow". ‘Gerber’ is typically celebrated in June or July. On this day, people sing songs, dance in circles, hold sports competitions and eat Finno-Ugric dishes.

Udmurts love ‘shyd’ soup, made with meat broth and beaten eggs, and ‘perepechi’, which is an open-faced pastry made from unleavened dough filled with cabbage, meat or cheese. For dessert, they eat ‘shunyan’ pie with viburnum berries. Traditional Udmurt beverages include bread-based ‘kvass’ (‘syukas’) and beetroot-based (‘varencha’) ‘kvass’.