Template:Did you know nominations/Mira Mendelson
- The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.
The result was: promoted by Cwmhiraeth (talk) 07:24, 15 January 2021 (UTC)
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Mira Mendelson
- ... that after first meeting Mira Mendelson, Sergei Prokofiev described his future wife as "just some girl who wants me to read her bad poetry"? Source: "In an English-language interview, Lina recalls Prokofiev describing Mira as 'just some girl who wants me to read her bad poetry.' Lina joked, 'Well, take care of your little admirer.'" ([1])
Created/expanded by CurryTime7-24 (talk). Self-nominated at 01:14, 5 January 2021 (UTC).
General eligibility:
- New enough:
- Long enough:
- Other problems:
Policy compliance:
- Adequate sourcing:
- Neutral:
- Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:
- Other problems:
Hook eligibility:
- Cited:
- Interesting:
- Other problems:
| Image: Image is freely licensed, used in the article, and clear at 100px. |
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| QPQ: Done. |
Overall: 
Very interesting. Great topic. Josh Milburn (talk) 17:41, 6 January 2021 (UTC)
- Hmm, so I don't want to torpedo this, but I just stumbled upon the article and wanted to suggest it under another hook, before realising it was already an approved DYK, lol. Indeed a cool article @CurryTime7-24, I'll just leave this alternate hook here in case you like it better (yours is actually also quite good):
- ALT1: ... that shortly after Mira Mendelson married Sergei Prokofiev, her husband's former wife was arrested and sent to a gulag? Source: [2]
(Keeping this post-approval ALT small font so it isn't accidentally used.)--LordPeterII (talk) 11:16, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
Happy to approve with my DYK reviewer hat on. I think I slightly prefer the "bad poetry" hook, but either works for me! Josh Milburn (talk) 19:19, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
- I came to nominate her, but see I'm quite late ;) - I suggest to use the image File:Mira Mendelssohn Prokofiev.jpg, and would have mentioned the collaboration on War and Peace (opera) instead of "bad poetry" and the GULAG of a different person. Ask me if you want a hook. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:02, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
@Gerda Arendt: Feel free to propose an alternative hook! Josh Milburn (talk) 19:16, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
Mira Mendelson and Sergei Prokofiev in 1946
- ALT2: ... that Mira Mendelson, who met Sergei Prokofiev at a summer resort in 1938, co-authored some of his operas with him, including War and Peace, and became his second wife in 1948 (both pictured)?
- They are pictured the year they collaborated on that work. I am a woman, and like a woman's achievement pointed out, not what a man invented to play something down ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:51, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
- @Gerda Arendt: @J Milburn: The reason I chose the hook that went with this article’s DYK submission was because it struck me as catchy and enticing to attract a reader who may have never heard of Mendelson, Prokofiev, or even is familiar at all with classical music. While Prokofiev’s quote was played at Mendelson’s expense (and there is always the possibility he never actually said that, but had the words put in his mouth posthumously by his first wife, from whom the quote was obtained), a reader clicking on the article will quickly find their expectations subverted as she was clearly a person of artistic talent in her own right, and who worked tirelessly to make her eventual husband’s last years as comfortable as possible. The other hooks, while acceptable, don’t have the same enticing quality. One is really more about somebody else; while the other one is a hook which would perhaps best appeal to somebody already familiar with these personages and the wider cultural world they came from, and which already repeats something which the article expands upon. The idea of the hook, at least to me, ought to be a tantalizing taste of the article which may playfully lead on the reader in one direction, but upon clicking the wikilink find their expectations taken in another satisfying direction. For the record, I don’t oppose any of the other hooks. But that’s my two centavos on the matter. CurryTime7-24 (talk) 20:12, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
- I understand that. Only: I am afraid that someone who never heard of Prokofiev may just shrug that some no-name man said something not nice about some no-name woman who still married him. Also, in my hooks I try to give a bit of valuable information even to those who don't click, risking to be criticised for it again and again. - Just explaining. I know that DYK prefers catchy quirkyness. One reason why I have turned to In the news, the other being that many more readers seem interested. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:23, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
- I totally understand. The only reason I devised the one that was initially submitted was based on my impressions of the DYK section, which seem to often have slightly tongue-in-cheek hooks meant to draw potential viewers to an article. I think your average reader stumbling upon this article would find Mira Mendelson to be a lot more remarkable than the misleadingly flippant remarks of a certain no-name man. (Which could have just as well been invented by another no-name woman for her own perfectly understandable reasons.) In the end and as was mentioned earlier, either hook is fine. The important thing is to get people to notice Mira Mendelson. :) CurryTime7-24 (talk) 08:02, 12 January 2021 (UTC)
- I understand that. Only: I am afraid that someone who never heard of Prokofiev may just shrug that some no-name man said something not nice about some no-name woman who still married him. Also, in my hooks I try to give a bit of valuable information even to those who don't click, risking to be criticised for it again and again. - Just explaining. I know that DYK prefers catchy quirkyness. One reason why I have turned to In the news, the other being that many more readers seem interested. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:23, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
- @Gerda Arendt: @J Milburn: The reason I chose the hook that went with this article’s DYK submission was because it struck me as catchy and enticing to attract a reader who may have never heard of Mendelson, Prokofiev, or even is familiar at all with classical music. While Prokofiev’s quote was played at Mendelson’s expense (and there is always the possibility he never actually said that, but had the words put in his mouth posthumously by his first wife, from whom the quote was obtained), a reader clicking on the article will quickly find their expectations subverted as she was clearly a person of artistic talent in her own right, and who worked tirelessly to make her eventual husband’s last years as comfortable as possible. The other hooks, while acceptable, don’t have the same enticing quality. One is really more about somebody else; while the other one is a hook which would perhaps best appeal to somebody already familiar with these personages and the wider cultural world they came from, and which already repeats something which the article expands upon. The idea of the hook, at least to me, ought to be a tantalizing taste of the article which may playfully lead on the reader in one direction, but upon clicking the wikilink find their expectations taken in another satisfying direction. For the record, I don’t oppose any of the other hooks. But that’s my two centavos on the matter. CurryTime7-24 (talk) 20:12, 11 January 2021 (UTC)