Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2024 March 21

= March 21 =

French Guards Regiment
Is there some source about the name of their soldier killed amoung the mob by Lambesc's dragons on July 12, 1789? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.56.172.99 (talk) 12:17, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * The only such name we've been given to know is that of a supposed pedlar François Pépin ( suffering a wound in the ankle: The Revolution Begins). He is said to have died consequently. Reports with regard to a member of the Gardes are from several witness accounts in the ulterior trial ( Pièces du procès(1), the original, integrale, (2) ) held October 1789 until July 1790:
 * David Etienne Rouillé de l'Etang, Secretaire du Roy a vu apporter un soldat aux gardes blessé d'un coup de pied de cheval p.14 ( November 18) . P.46: Poursin de Grandchamp says the same. Bankers Vandeniver and Boscary each report a conversation they heard naming some victims. Other witnesses allow to understand that a fusillade was fired, involving 50 to 150 muskets but without leading to casualties, quite probably some pistols were also discharged into the windows of places were people of negligible rank had been loudly drinking liquors - if those were hurt and shot they preferred not to be brought into the light in consequence apparently.  --Askedonty (talk) 16:52, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

A literary incident at an OPEC meeting in the 1980s.
Since there's no History Reference Desk I'm asking here. Is this the appropriate desk?

Anyway, here's my question:

During an OPEC meeting in the 1980s an Arab delegate (who happened to also be a competent poet in Arabic, but I don't remember if he was a Saudi, or a Koweiti, or an Emirati, or even something else) wrote a short poem that was mocking a Nigerian delegate who was speaking at the same time, and his boring speech? The poem was written at the very same time that the meeting was going on. I think it was in the 1980s but I'm not absolutely sure. Could've been the 1970s or the 1990s but no earlier or later than that.

Then, I don't remember how (maybe the piece of paper that poem had been written on was gotten hold of by someone) the poem was leaked to the BBC or some other news organization and it even appeared in print (most likely in translation) in some print outlets in the West. Needless to say that little poem made for some un-diplomatic noise. The Nigerians didn't display much sense of humor at that particular time.

I don't remember where and when I saw a mention of this incident (could've been in a book, or it could've been in a radio or television program) and I couldn't find any trace of it using the usual methods of search. Are there newspapers archives on the net that are accessible and searchable?

If you can find anything about this incident that'd be great. I'm particularly interested in the name of the Arab delegate who wrote the poem, particularly if he happened to be a Saudi. I know that several people who occupied significant political positions in Saudi Arabia were also published poets and I was wondering if this was one of them.

Thanks. 178.51.93.5 (talk) 18:55, 21 March 2024 (UTC)


 * Probably Mana Al Otaiba (though not "a Saudi"), 1983, see "OPEC Bard; An Oil Minister's Poem Stole the Show". ---Sluzzelin talk  19:16, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Yes I'm 99% certain it's the guy, even though the New York Times wouldn't let me view the whole article. Thanks a lot. Incidentally, I wonder why that anecdote was not included in Mana Al Otaiba's article. Wikipedia policy? 178.51.93.5 (talk) 19:06, 23 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Only in the sense that Wikipedia being a work in progress and thus never perfect is part of our editing policy. I can't see any reason, at first glance, not to include this information, provided it is reliably sourced and also embedded in context (beyond just telling the anecdote). I couldn't see any discussions on the article's talk page about including the OPEC poem or not, nor did I see anyone trying to add it to the article and then get reverted. ---Sluzzelin talk  11:44, 24 March 2024 (UTC)