Talk:Vladimir Myshkin

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The article may be improved by following the WikiProject Biography 11 easy steps to producing at least a B article. --  Jreferee  (Talk) 02:20, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Not Jewish
Vladimir Myshkin is not Jewish, even though some sources mistakenly list him as such. The misconception is based on the ending of his last name, "-kin", which is common for some Russian Jews (Malkin, Geskin, Rivkin). However, Myshkin is a purely Russian last name, which comes from the word "mysh" (mouse), unlike the aforementioned Jewish names, all of which come Jewish female first names (Malke, Gesya, Riva). His patronymic, Semyonovich, while common among Russian Jews, is also quite frequent among Russians. To say nothing of his appearance, which is stereotypically Slavic and not Semitic in the least. Beyond those few sources (none of them Russian) which list him as a Jew, there is absolutely no reason to say he is one. In several Russian language interviews he refers to himself as Russian. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.107.105.141 (talk) 20:01, 7 June 2012 (UTC)