Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2020 December 7

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December 7

First woman MP and Cabinet Minister

I wonder: when did Somalia have its first female Member of Parliament, and when did it have its first female Cabinet minister? Online, the information mainly deals with the development in the last couple of years. But I have read about the Socialist regime of Siad Barre in the 1970s and 1980s, when women's rights were prioritized. The information I got was that the regime did appoint women to "some high posts" during the Barre regime, but there was no more detailed information about exactly which posts, when, and who. Were some of these posts cabinet posts? I have read that the first female foreign minister was appointed in 2012, but when was the first cabinet minister regardless of position appointed? And surely there must have been women in the Parliament during the communist regime, given their official women's policy, but when and who? Thank you, --Aciram (talk) 03:28, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

Re first MP: Going through the list of elections in Somalia, the first women elected to parliament seem to have been the six elected in 1979. (Per [1], no women were elected to parliament in Somalia in 1969, per [2] six women were elected in 1979, per [3], 25 women were elected in 1984.) I’ve run out of time to search more right now, but hope having a target date will help others search for names.

Re first cabinet minister: [4] says Fawzia Yusuf H. Adam was the first woman in a ministerial position in Somalia when she was appointed foreign minister and deputy PM in November 2012. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 15:21, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for your effort! I have now been given the names

• Member of a City Council – Halima Godane – 1958
• Assistant Minister of Education – Fadumo Ahmed Alin – 1974
• Assistant Minister of Health – Rahiya Haji Dualeh (Raqiya Doaleh Abdalla) – 1983
• Minister of Health – Nur Ilmi Uthman – 1994
• Minister of Health – Qamar Aden Ali – 2007

I suppose it can be a bit hard to find names and dates in this case, considering the situation in the country since.--Aciram (talk) 16:17, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Paying for the conveyance of Voters to the Poll - Boroughs exempt from the prohibition

Section 36 of the Representation of the People Act 1867, as enacted, said:

It shall not be lawful for any Candidate, or any One on his Behalf, at any Election for any Borough, except the several Boroughs of East Retford, Shoreham, Cricklade, Much Wenlock, and Aylesbury, to pay any Money on account of the Conveyance of any Voter to the Poll, either to the Voter himself or to any other Person; and if any such Candidate, or any Person on his Behalf, shall pay any Money on account of the Conveyance of any Voter to the Poll, such Payment shall be deemed to be an illegal Payment, within the meaning of "The Corrupt Practices Prevention Act, 1854."

Why were East Retford, Shoreham, Cricklade, Much Wenlock, and Aylesbury exempted from this provision? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 10:38, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

Ah, I think I may be onto something. East Retford at this time included the whole of the Wapentake of Bassetlaw, and Shoreham the whole of the Rape of Bramber, so they were much larger than most Boroughs. I think that in this respect they were being treated as though they were County constituencies. DuncanHill (talk) 10:57, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

Which other European ethnic groups had extensive and widely spread diasporas in Europe just like the Germans had before World War II?

A 1925 map of the Volksdeutsche (German diaspora) in Eastern Europe.

Which other European ethnic groups had extensive and widely spread diasporas in Europe just like the Germans had before World War II? On the right is a 1925 map of the German diaspora in Eastern Europe in 1925, and I'm looking for other examples *specifically in Europe* that are similar to this. Something like the Hungarian diaspora wouldn't really count for this because it's in large part (with the exception of the Szekelys) located near Hungary's present-day borders whereas I want it to be more spread out like the pre-World War II German diaspora was. Also, again, I want to specifically focus on Europe here rather than on European diasporas in other places, such as in the Americas. Futurist110 (talk) 22:47, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

Also, I'm well-aware of the Ashkenazi Jews and Romani people, but neither of these are really European ethnic groups per se. The original homeland of the Jews (including the Jews who subsequently became Ashkenazi Jews) was Israel (in the Middle East) whereas the Romani people's original homeland was India, also in Asia and outside of Europe. Futurist110 (talk) 22:51, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

In addition, to clarify: I want these European diasporas to be long-lasting (like the German diaspora in the former territories of the Russian Empire) as opposed to being recent diasporas. Futurist110 (talk) 22:56, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

Greek diaspora --Amble (talk) 00:39, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

In regards to the northern, European coastline of the Black Sea, Yes, certainly! Futurist110 (talk) 01:39, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Also throughout the Balkans, and Cyprus (a British colony until 1960), Greeks in Malta (a British colony until 1964), Griko people in southern Italy, Cargèse in Corsica, and the Dodecanese Islands (an Italian possession before WWII) among others. --Amble (talk) 02:15, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Interesting. (Though is the Greek presence in the Balkans specifically that large?) Futurist110 (talk) 02:38, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

At least in Albania: Greeks in Albania. Beyond that I’m not so sure. —Amble (talk) 05:21, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Yeah, there's a large Greek diaspora in Northern Epirus near the Greek-Albanian border, but I don't think that there's actually a large Greek diaspora in any other part of Albania--is there? Futurist110 (talk) 06:31, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Not that I know of. All I know is what I have read in the Greeks in Albania article. I believe there are also Greek communities in Romania and maybe Bulgaria, but these are probably already covered under "northern coastline of the Black Sea". --Amble (talk) 16:18, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

How about the Irish diaspora, including the Flight of the Wild Geese? --Antiquary (talk) 13:13, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Depends on just how many of them ended up in other European countries as opposed to on other continents. Futurist110 (talk) 23:36, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Polish diaspora might be of relevance. Also would you consider the Roma people a group on permanent diaspora? --Jayron32 13:28, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Just how much of the Polish diaspora is post-1900, though? As for the Romani people, I explicitly mentioned them here. Yes, I certainly do consider them to be a diaspora, but I also don't consider them to be a European ethnic group since they originated from India. Futurist110 (talk) 23:36, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Are you looking for Category:European diasporas in Europe? --Pp.paul.4 (talk) 00:57, 9 December 2020 (UTC)

I never knew that such a category actually exists! Thank you very much! Futurist110 (talk) 04:47, 9 December 2020 (UTC)

Two black sheep, one a crook and one a coward, who won the VC.

In Alpha of the Plough (1916). "On Black Sheep". Pebbles on the Shore. we read "every one knows the case of the man with twenty-seven convictions against him who won the V.C. for one of the bravest acts of the war". Who was that man? We also read of another, "You have no doubt read that incident of the sergeant who, in a moment of panic, fled, was placed under arrest and sentenced to be shot. Before the sentence was ratified by the Commander-in-Chief, there came a moment of extreme peril to the line, when irretrievable disaster was imminent and every man who could fill a gap was needed. The condemned man was called out to face the enemy, and, even in the midst of brave men, fought with a bravery that singled him out for the Victoria Cross" - who was that Sergeant? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 23:55, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

I can't name either man, but in the case of the sergeant I suspect that "singled him out for the Victoria Cross" isn't intended to mean that he actually got one. An apparently 1915 number (though Google Books dates of periodicals aren't to be trusted) of the Christian Advocate has this story:

A British sergeant had lost his nerve and been sentenced by court-martial to five years' penal servitude for cowardice. Before he could leave the lines the Prussian Guard launched an assault upon them and Sergeant X— flung himself into the defense so valorously that he would probably have been recommended for the Victoria Cross, had he not been under arrest.

But even if there are two sources for this story I'm still not sure I entirely believe it. Both stories have a ring of concocted war propaganda to me, or of professed fiction becoming pseudo-fact, as with the angels of Mons. --Antiquary (talk) 12:37, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

Well now, maybe the first story has some germ of truth in it after all. Private William Mariner did win the VC in 1915 despite having three prison sentences behind him, one handed down by a civil court and the other two by courts-martial. Our article on him passes over this in silence, but see this site. What's more the Daily Telegraph seems to call him the only known ex-con to win a VC, but I have no subscription for the Telegraph so I can't be sure. --Antiquary (talk) 19:07, 10 December 2020 (UTC)

The article contains this sentence: Researchers and collectors had always believed the medal, known as the "Convict VC" because Mariner, a burglar, was the only known convicted criminal to have won Britain's highest gallantry award, had been lost with him on a Flanders battlefield. There is no further information on Mariner's criminal past. The date of being awarded the VC, 22 May 1915, is compatible with "On Black Sheep" having been published in 1916, and it is possible that out of twenty-seven convictions three were prison sentences.  --Lambiam 00:13, 11 December 2020 (UTC)