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A Family Legacy Rediscovered


This project began with a personal story — one rooted in memory, silence, and hope.
Two sisters separated by war and an ocean hadn’t seen or heard from each other in over 74 years. I took on the challenge to reconnect them, guided by intuition and love for my family’s legacy

This story was also featured in the Finnish magazine APU, where its cultural and historical importance was highlighted.

Across Time and Borders

How do you find someone with only fragments of the past?
No address, no digital trace, just a few names and a childhood memory.
The task seemed nearly impossible, but the story deserved to be told.
Vintage portrait of Tamara Haltsonen, a young Ingrian girl from Shuvalovka — the only surviving photo that helped reconnect the Haltsonen family after 74 years of separation

Strategy Meets Empathy

I approached the search like a personal research mission — blending intuition, empathy, and strategic thinking.
I used archive letters, local registries, community networks, and visual mapping.
This wasn’t just about data — it was about understanding people, memory, and patterns of migration.
1977 handwritten letter from Tamara Haltsonen’s American adoptive family to Lidia Haltsonen in the Soviet Union — a personal trace of the Ingrian diaspora, postwar migration, and intercontinental family reconnection during the Cold War
Tamara Terichow in her San Rafael, California home — the moment she learned her sister Lidia Isakova (née Haltsonen) was alive in Finland. A historic family reconnection between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, rooted in the Ingrian diaspora

The Moment of Truth

After months of searching, we received confirmation — my grandmother’s sister was alive, and living in the U.S.
The emotional impact was immediate and unforgettable. The reunion became a moment of healing, history, and love restored.
Lidia Isakova and Tamara Terichow reunited in Finland — visiting Lidia’s daughter Natalia, after decades of separation. A powerful moment of reconnection for the Ingrian family legacy

A Restored Connection


Two women, now in their late 80s and 90s, were reunited not only through letters and phone calls — but in person. In the summer of 2018, my grandmother’s sister Tamara traveled to Finland together with her daughter and granddaughter. They stayed for three weeks, sharing stories, memories, and simply enjoying time together after decades apart.

For them, it was the return of a missing part of their family legacy.
For me, it was an experience that revealed the power of intuition, determination, and perseverance.

The San Francisco Chronicle captured their reunion, highlighting the emotional impact of reuniting after decades — and the importance of family ties across generations.

Why It Belongs to NOVÉYA

This story embodies the essence of NOVÉYA™:
purpose-led action, strategic clarity, emotional resonance, and legacy.
It wasn’t a professional assignment — yet it profoundly shaped how I understand impact, intuition, and meaning.

The Red Cross described it as a story of exodus, separation, and reunion — echoing NOVÉYA’s commitment to storytelling with purpose and intention.
"Some stories are not just remembered — they are restored"
— Anna Haltsonen
A stack of vintage letters tied with string, old photographs, and a fountain pen — evoking memory, archival search, and untold family stories from Shuvalovka, like those of Raisa Plotnikova, Aleksandr Haltsonen, and Tatyana Haltsonen
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An Excerpt from the Original Article in APU Magazine (Finland, 2018)

This recognition by the media added emotional resonance to our family’s story and confirmed its cultural relevance well beyond the bounds of our own lives
Are We Connected by Legacy?
Do You Have Roots in Shuvalovka, Ingrian Villages or the Gulf of Finland Region?
If your family has roots in Shuvalovka, Znamenka, Petrodvorets (Peterhof), or in other villages near the Gulf of Finland, such as Vikkolovo, Nizhnyaya Izhora, or shares surnames such as Haltsonen, Galtsanen, Haltonen, Haltanen, or Haltsinen,
we might be connected beyond this story.

This case is part of a deeply personal journey to recover scattered threads of family legacy — especially those shaped by historical trauma, wartime deportations, Ingrian identity, and the transformations of the 20th century in the Baltic Sea region.

If you recognize any names, locations, or photos — or if you are also tracing your Ingrian-Finnish roots,
please reach out. We might be part of the same story.

→ hello@annahaltsonen.com

© 2025 Anna Haltsonen. NOVÉYA™
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