The acronym-strewn world of finance can be daunting. Not, though, for Gillian Tett – as well as knowing her FTSE from her FSA, the British Press Awards journalist of the year speaks Tajik, the language of Tajikistan.

It was in the former Soviet state, which borders Afghanistan and China, that Tett became a journalist.

She lived there when it was part of the Soviet Union, while studying for a PhD in anthropology from Cambridge. When war broke out as the Soviet Union broke up, she began freelancing.