Estonian roots in the world

Estonia's roots reach far. Some people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent, have become famous abroad — in space, in technology and elsewhere — carrying a fragment of Estonia with them. This page gathers such stories.

Steve Jurvetson — Estonian roots in Silicon Valley

Steve Jurvetson (b. 1967) is one of Silicon Valley's best-known venture capitalists. His father, Tõnu Jürvetson, fled Estonia through Germany in 1944, just before the Soviet reoccupation — the same Great Flight told of in Estonians in exile. Educated at Stanford, Jurvetson was an early investor in Hotmail and other technology firms and has served on the board of SpaceX. He joined Tesla's board back in 2006 — one of the company's earliest directors alongside Elon Musk — and took delivery of the first production Tesla Model S in 2012. He co-founded the firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and later founded Future Ventures. So the son of an Estonian refugee carried his roots to the summit of world technology.

Nicole Aunapu Mann — Tallinn roots in space

The American astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann, whose grandfather was born in Tallinn, reached space in 2022 — the first Native American woman in history to do so. She commanded a SpaceX Dragon mission to the International Space Station. So a woman of Estonian roots carried her family's story from Earth into orbit; she later visited the homeland of her ancestors, Estonia, for the first time.

Estonian roots in the world

Steve Jurvetson — Estonian roots in Silicon Valley

Nicole Aunapu Mann — Tallinn roots in space

See also