Talk:Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev
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 | A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia'sMain Page in the"Did you know?" column onFebruary 14, 2011. The text of the entry was:Did you know ... that becauseLeonid Brezhnev(pictured) had more than 200 decorations, it was decided to break the Soviet custom of featuring only one decoration on cushions duringhis funeral? | |||||||||
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==GA Review==
Reviewer:Arsenikk(talk)12:05, 31 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
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i'm fixin to remove this line:Brezhnev's funeral started the so-called [[Era of Magnificent Funerals]], when top Soviet statesmen died one after another. this is unsourced, but going back to the first draft of this article revealsthis cite which does not make this claim. the cite instead says this funeral deserves "special attention" due to the number of medals he was buried with, and the measures that were taken during the procession, and also detailing the elaborate funerals of others before (and since) the death of Brezhnev. -badmachine18:33, 11 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:
Participate in the deletion discussion at thenomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk)22:07, 22 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]
The claims made inKremlin Wives are of dubious value, and I'd like other editor's feedback prior to removal. The four made by Vasilieva are:
The first 3 above are not surprising when considering the "tell all" nature ofKremlin Wives, comparable to Kitty Kelly's tell all books here in the USA—bestsellers containing much gossip and little verification—which is problematic for historians. Those 3 seem out of place here in the article.
Number 4 is the most problematic. BothTime Magazine andThe New York Times contradict that claim. On YouTube, there isfootage from Breznev's funeral clearly showing Vasilieva's claim is false. I think it would be best to omit all 4 from the article. What do others think? Please feel free to comment below. Spintendo 01:03, 6 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
As far as Galina being some sort of criminal, she may have hadothers around her who were arrested, but she herself was never convicted of any crime. The one husband who was jailed for criminal exploits was eventually rehabilitated, with Galina being granted access to his once previously-apprehended finances, allowing her to live the rest of her life in financial comfort.
Vasilieva herself admits her information is based on gossip, saying of Galina"Perestroika turns rumors into half facts. Many of these are filled with inaccuracies, and details were invented to allow the new political figures to rail at the old. But where there is smoke, there is usually fire."[1]: 210 The Wikipedia article should not use this smoke to imply fire. For these reasons, I'm removing the claims made by Vasilieva's book. Spintendo 04:24, 12 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
References
The article currently contains a claim made on a now-defunct website called "Gazeta" regarding what I'll call the "Brezhnev coffin-lowering episode". Other reliable sources given in the article have confirmed that the weight of the coffin caused it to lower into the grave at a speed not anticipated by those lowering it, causing a "crash".
RegardingGazeta, an archive made of the site states that Gazeta is "a portal created by users themselves." ItsAbout Us section also states: "Registration is required to post a publication or comments. It's free."
The claim inGazeta is that "funeral service specialist Georgy Kovalenko .... claims that nothing like this (the Brezhnev coffin-lowing episode) happened." Kovalenko's reasoning is that the weight of Brezhnev's coffin did not cause it to descend into the grave suddenly because, according to him, "twenty minutes before the descent the then commandant of the Kremlin, Semyon Shornikov, approached him and asked him to lower the coffin simultaneously with the chimes."
Needless to say, asking someone to lower a coffin in accordance with chimes says nothing about what happened while that coffinwas being lowered. That, coupled with the fact thatGazeta does not meet the definition ofWP:RS, strongly suggests that the claim ought to be removed from the article.
I'd appreciate knowing other editors comments/concerns about this here. Spintendo 22:52, 14 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]
There is a move discussion in progress onTalk:Death and state funeral of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot00:49, 25 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The two sources that we have for this information, Blake and Sell, offer slightly differing accounts of the changes to the television lineup on the evening Brezhnev died. For example, Blake mentions the television program which was replaced by the documentary on Lenin as encompassing a "pop music concert". Sell describes this concert as a program in honor of "the day of the militia men". Both Blake and Sell correctly state that the program was replaced by the documentary on Lenin. However, Sell states that the Tchaikovsky symphony aired after the Lenin documentary on the same channel, whereas Blake states that the Tchaikovsky symphony substitution aired on a different channel as the replacement for an ice hockey game. Only Blake gives the information about the Vremya newscast.
With regards to the Tchaikovsky substitution, I'm more inclined to favor the primary source (Blake) over the secondary source (Sell). Blake was writing from a time closer to the event where memories are fresher. Sell on the other hand, was writing many decades later. I've tried to reflect a compromise as best as possible in how that section is written and cited. In places where they align, I've given the cite to Sell. In the place where they differ, I'm giving the information from Blake and the cite to her, because as a primary source, I believe her information is fresher in her mind. If anyone has some input they'd like to offer on this, please speak up. thanks! Spintendo 05:31, 28 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Notes
Spintendo 10:57, 15 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
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