Selja, Hiiumaa Parish

Selja
Village
The Rudolf Tobias Museum at his birthplace
Selja
Coordinates: 58°49′40″N22°44′19″E / 58.82778°N 22.73861°E / 58.82778; 22.73861
Country	Estonia
County	Hiiu County
Parish	Hiiumaa Parish
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Selja is a village in Hiiumaa Parish, Hiiu County in northwestern Estonia. ^[1]

Name

Selja was attested in historical sources as Selja Tönniß in 1665 (i.e., 'Tõnis [Anthony] from Selja', referring to a resident of the village) and Sellia by (i.e., 'Selja village') in 1709. The toponym is relatively frequent in Estonia and is derived from the common noun selg (genitive: selja) 'back, crest, ridge (of a hill)'. ^[2]

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Selja include the following:

• Rudolf Tobias (1873–1918), first Estonian professional composer, born and spent his early childhood in Selja. In 1973, Tobias's birthplace was converted into a museum.
• Johannes Tobias (1847–1909), parish clerk and father of Rudolf Tobias

References

1. Classification of Estonian administrative units and settlements 2014 ^{[ dead link ]} (retrieved 28 July 2021)
2. "Selja". Dictionary of Estonian Place Names. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Instituut. Retrieved November 23, 2025.