Talk:Mikhail Lashevich

Surname
There are unfounded claims of Jewish origin, based on presence of Lashevich in the dictionary of Jewish surnames. However his real surname was Gaskovich, which is not a Jewish surname, being absent from the same dictionary. Also his patronymic Mikhaylovich also is unlikely as Jewish, an in Ashkenazic tradition a child is never named after a living relative. --Galassi (talk) 17:47, 7 September 2010 (UTC)
 * I don't see what's wrong with the list site? Why is the obscure site you cited for "Gaskovich" reliable? --Львівське (talk) 20:54, 7 September 2010 (UTC)
 * The dictionary cited is reliable in its titular content, but not its historical application, it is after all a dictionary, not a historical document. SO for now Lasevich remains ethnically indeterminable.--Galassi (talk) 22:17, 7 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Huh? Header on the site says very clearly the content is from Jewish Encyclopedia of Russia (Rossiyskaya Evreiskaya Entsiclopediya); first edition; 1995, Moscow., not some surname dictionary.--Львівське (talk) 23:29, 7 September 2010 (UTC)
 * No, it is Beder's dictionary. You'd have to track downthe individual L. citation.--Galassi (talk) 23:40, 7 September 2010 (UTC)

"Famous people who are listed in the book, which in fact is a biographical dictionary, were born in Russia, the USSR, the Russian Empire, or lived there. This is the first edition of this kind in Russia and a large group of specialist from Russia, Israel and other countries participated in the project."

This seems entirely reliable of a source to use. It's a published work, it's scholarly, it's legit. What's the beef?--Львівське (talk) 23:43, 7 September 2010 (UTC)