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Thanks for merging the two articles on André Franquin last night, Zoe! Sorry that I didn't do it myself, but I had to go to bed. :) I do have one quibble with what you did, though. Why put him at Andre Franquin, rather than at André Franquin?
I had a similar dilemma recently about whether to put the singer Sinéad O'Connor at Sinead O'Connor or at Sinéad O'Connor, but was convinced that the former was better as she comes from a predominantly English-speaking country, where most people spell her name without the accent. However, this is not the case for Franquin, who comes from a largely French-speaking country. I know that we are supposed to transliterate names into the Roman alphabet, but the official Wikipedia page on anglicisation says that "[l]anguages like Spanish or French should need no transliteration". I know of no offline encyclopaedia that has a policy of removing accents from French language names, so I don't think we should here. Don't you agree? :) -- Oliver Pereira (originally written on Sun 10 Nov 2002)
- Okay, you haven't objected, so I take it you're happy with my arguments. :) I'm moving his entry to André Franquin. Anyone wishing to debate this point, please add your arguments below. I'm also having second thoughts about where Sinéad O'Connor should be, so if anyone wishes to discuss this point, please add to the Talk page for her. Thanks! -- Oliver Pereira (Mon 11 Nov 2002)
Warning: Note that there is some disagreement about the date of Franquin's death. In this article, the date is given as "January 5, 1997", which seems to be the date given on most websites. However, this chronology (http://www.gastonlagaffe.com/gaston/code/en/dates.htm) of Franquin's life and work, which is part of what claims to be the Official site of Gaston Lagaffe (http://www.gastonlagaffe.com/gaston/index.htm) (one of Franquin's creations), gives his date of death as "January 4, 1997". I'm calling attention to the discrepancy here in the hope that some dedicated researcher will be able to clear up the matter by finding a definitive date in a more reliable source than some random webpage! -- Oliver Pereira
- According to the "Dictionnaire mondial de la bandes dessinée, Larousse (ed.)", one of the best references available, the date of Franquin's death is in fact January 5th 1997. I have also checked in a few January 1997 newspapers and...yes Franquin died in southern France (Saint-Laurent du Var) on Jan 5th. Part of the confusion may stem from the fact the he had a heart attack on the night from the 4th to the 5th. He was transported to a clinic where he died on the 5th.
- I guess that pretty much settles it : the Wikipedia article is correct and that "official" Gaston web page is off by one day ;-) -- sarch
Largely French speaking
Please note that 60% of the Belgians are Flemish and speak therefor Dutch (of Flemish, the Dutch dailect). The remainder speaks largely French and a small minority German.