Marat smashes his racquet again...

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

Apparently, according to some accounts, the narky tennis player Marat Safin, who lost at Wimbledon today, was named after Jean-Paul Marat by his grandmother.
Safin himself says he thinks the name's Muslim, but it isn't, is it (?). In the interview about it, he sounds clueless, so I'm hoping it was a Russian communist grandmother keeping the revolutionary flame alive (unfortunately, on someone too stupid to appreciate it).

Comments

[racaille.livejournal.com]

Indeed, Marat was a very popular figure in Soviet Russia, hence many children being named after him. The whole French revolution was very popular, even though the bourgeoisie won ;)

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

I heard they once had a battleship 'Robespierre'! Safin is pretty young, though, so it's interesting to know the French revolution is still acknowledged as an influence even now. Actually, a friend of mine, who used to get taken on holiday to Eastern Europe as a kid, has the middle name Karl, so some British kids get revolutionary names, too!

[trf-chan.livejournal.com]

O_O Yes, I'm quite sure Marat isn't a Muslim name, unless there's something I'm missing. That's cool, though, even if young Marat himself doesn't seem to appreciate it. XD

[citoyenneclark.livejournal.com]

I came across the name Marat in an artical about Turkmenistan. It might actually be a Muslim name.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02E5DA143FF936A35752C0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

Aww! - let's just hope there's a lot of former-Soviet revolutionary fervour out there, or something!

[kurotoshi.livejournal.com]

I ADMIT, I LOL-ED.

It isn't Muslim!

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

I wonder what his brothers and sisters are called!

[bettylabamba.livejournal.com]

Well, J-P did wear a turban. ;)

[kurotoshi.livejournal.com]

LOL! You know as well as I do why he did!!

[bettylabamba.livejournal.com]

Hehe. He was muslim for medical reasons. Ah, bad joke!

[kurotoshi.livejournal.com]

LMAO!!!!!!!!!! OH, YOU KILL ME!

[bettylabamba.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...I guess Marat can kinda sound Arabic if the "t" is pronounced.

//Oh, gawd. Shudder: I just got a flashback of Schama saying Muuuuhrrrrrrraaaaaahhh all ersatz-French n' shit from the art history mini series.//

[hanriotfran.livejournal.com]

I can't but laugh...Every time i search "Marat" in Google, there is a great deal of entries about this "Marat Safin" who plays tennis! What a granny he had! Marat have only few fans, and rarely among women, so I'm suprised that Safin's grandmother had choose "Marat" to name his beloved little grandson. :D

Safin seems to be a last name from some Central Asian Republic, making part of former Soviet Union...I mean Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and so on. Maybe Safin believed that "Marat" was a Muslim name for people from there uses to be Muslim.

HanriotFran (Vanesa)