Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2023 January 2

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January 2

Renaming of La Fortuna

Can anyone track down the origin of La Fortuna, San Carlos' name? Our article says it was not renamed after the 1968 Arenal Volcano eruption, but does not cite a source for that claim. Eddie891 ^Talk _Work 02:07, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

The district was created by Executive Decree in 1952. Presumably it got its name at that occasion, by decree.  --Lambiam 02:39, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

"La Fortuna" is not only the name of a district, but also of a small town just about 6.5 km (4 miles) east of the crater Arenal Volcano.^[1] I notice now that our article does not clearly distinguish the two.  --Lambiam 14:19, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

Ukrainians in the Polish army in the battle Battle of Vienna, 1683

In 2013, a Ukrainian-financed monument was erected honouring the contribution of Ukrainian Cossacks to save Vienna from the Turks in the 1683 battle. While the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had lost Kyiv to Russia in 1667, of course still a major part of its population was of Ukrainian ethnicity, and certainly also some troops in this battle. However, is there any chance to estimate the Ukrainians' numbers among a total of 27,000 Polish troops (according to the battle article)? --KnightMove (talk) 07:50, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

A fairly thorough Google search didn't bring up anything helpful I'm afraid. Alansplodge (talk) 12:40, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

This [2]https://www.oeaw.ac.at/tuerkengedaechtnis/denkmaeler/ort/tuerkenschanzpark-kosaken-denkmal source mentions 7 regiments of some 3 000 Cossacks. Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 13:50, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

Thank you! --KnightMove (talk) 15:47, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

KnightMove, Wikipedia has an article on everything, as they say, but in this case, it's the Polish and Ukrainian Wikipedias: pl:Udział Kozaków w odsieczy wiedeńskiej, uk:Козаки у Віденській битві (Cossack contribution to the battle of Vienna). According to the Ukrainian article, Cossack units which participated in the entire campaign numbered about 3,700 (there were more individual Cossacks serving in other units or not properly registered, rising the total number to an estimated 5,000). The Polish article, however, says that only 150 Cossacks participated in the battle of Vienna itself, while other Cossack units were engaged in military operations in Hungary, Moldavia and Podolia as part of the same war. — Kpalion^(talk) 09:29, 10 January 2023 (UTC)

@Kpalion: Wow, thank you. I guess some partisan history writing plays a role there. Do you think there is a possible guess from the sources given which number is more accurate? --KnightMove (talk) 15:58, 10 January 2023 (UTC)

Balzac on his deathbed

I couldn’t find what I was looking for in Honoré de Balzac, so I ended up here at the refdesk. In the spy novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963), John le Carré writes: "It is said that Balzac on his deathbed enquired anxiously after the health and prosperity of characters he had created." This is interesting to me because it’s a somewhat popular theme in fiction. Writer Dennis Potter played upon this theme in Karaoke (1996), which makes me now wonder if he was paying homage to Balzac. In any event, back to the original question: is it true that Balzac did this on his deathbed, or is it just a myth that has taken on a life of its own? Viriditas (talk) 22:31, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

Freud, Jung & Spiritual Psychology quotes the episode as "a story". Alansplodge (talk) 09:53, 3 January 2023 (UTC)

In the earliest form of this anecdote that I can find, Balzac on his deathbed called out for Dr. Horace Bianchon, one of his own characters: "I need Bianchon...I need Bianchon...Bianchon will save me!". We have this on the authority of Octave Mirbeau. The Balzac scholar Franc Schuerewegen writes that he believes the story is authentic, "and if it isn't, too bad!". Source: [3]. --Antiquary (talk) 11:44, 3 January 2023 (UTC)

Thank you, to you both. Viriditas (talk) 23:11, 5 January 2023 (UTC)