# Talk:Alexander Bielaski

This review is transcluded from Talk:Alexander Bielaski/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Buidhe (talk · contribs) 23:44, 14 March 2021 (UTC)

I believe Grand Duchy of Lithuania ceased to exist before he was born. At the time, Minsk was part of the Russian Empire.
I noticed that, but Shea and Wytrwal, which are the two that mention his birthplace, both state directly that he was born in the "Grand Duchy of Lithuania".  I have no idea how to handle this.  It is quite possible that the sources are referring to a cultural area or the place of the former Grand Duchy, but I can't really extrapolate that from the sources.
Neither of these sources is really that great. I do think it's misleading to imply that he was born in a political entity that didn't exist at the time. Someone born a few years after the Civil War should not be described as "Atlanta, Confederate States of America". Also, it's not the present-day Minsk province but probably either Minsk Governorate or Minsky Uyezd that he was from, both of which were located in the Russian Empire. (t · c) buidhe 04:19, 15 March 2021 (UTC)
After a very good deal of searching, I turned up an obscure 1970s publication from Cleveland State University that states Unfortunately, not enough is known of his exact place of birth or national leanings: Some sources list him as being born in the Minsk Province of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, while others list him as coming from ethnographic Lithuania.  I agree that the Minsk province link is currently not the best one after seeing the alternatives.  The broader governorate article is probably the better link, as the sources are too vague to narrow it down to the more specific uyezd.  I'm honestly not entirely sure how best to handle it when the available RS sourcing is all pretty vague and seemingly anachrostic.  It seems to me that the Polish parts of this fellow's life were just not really satisfactorily recorded. Hog Farm  Talk 04:40, 15 March 2021 (UTC)
I have made some changes, I hope you are satisfied. Theoretically there is no source cited for Minsk Governorate being in the Russian Empire but that is so basic that it probably doesn't need citation per WP:BLUE. (t · c) buidhe 05:50, 15 March 2021 (UTC)
@Buidhe: - I'm satisfied with the birthplace part. Hog Farm  Talk 03:46, 16 March 2021 (UTC)
It's a bit odd to state his son's ethnicity but not Bielaski's. Is there any info on his religion and whether he identified as Polish, Belarusian, etc.?
Hughes describes his as Polish; I've added that.  One of his sons was a Methodist minister, but I haven't found anything that comments on Bielaski's religion.  Oddly, Wytrwal, Pula, and Shea don't comment directly on his ethnicity.  They imply him to be Polish at various points, but since it's referring to his military service for the Poles, it's too unclear for me to determine if they are commenting on his ethnicity or his military service.  I've turned up a few marginal sources that refer to him as Polish, but those are all from various Polish groups.  A marginal source associated with a Lithuanian group considers him Lithuanian.  Hughes doesn't have any bones to pick as to ethnic identification, so stating that Hughes refers to him as Polish may be the best thing to do.
Too much space is given to family members in the lead compared to the body.
Trimmed to only mention the FBI grandson, who is the most prominent of the three by a mile.
More to come. (t · c) buidhe 23:44, 14 March 2021 (UTC)

@Buidhe: - replies above. Hog Farm  Talk 01:06, 15 March 2021 (UTC)
@Hog Farm: are you satisfied with the birthplace now? If so I will pass it. (t · c) buidhe 20:42, 15 March 2021 (UTC)