Bush and Putin lovefest

Fox News | 11/15/01

[Marysecretary]

thanks. I had heard he was but didn't know for sure. I appreciate your getting me that info.

[white rose]

Thanks for the additional information. I'm finding that guy more and more interesting.

[twigs]

Thank you for your reply! Ethnic groups interest me a lot, but I know so little! This may be a difficult question, but how would you characterize how Latvians look? Are they Slavs? In the meantime, I will try to do some 'net research. I did read that Putin was born in Leningrad--is that a Latvian enclave? Thanks!

[twigs]

The Finns and Hungarians are disputedly not of the indo-European language group, is that correct? I know that some Vikings settled in northern Russia. Maybe that's the reason this man looks so English to me. They could all have a Norwegian origin? It's the eyes. Some Brits have such distinctive-looking eyes and Putin has them as well. Thanks for your information to White Rose. This is very interesting. I read that Putin worked for the KGB in Dresden, germany. He looks like he would have fit in there very well.

[white rose]

Hm...that's tough for me to answer, because admittedly I'm not as knowledgable about my ancestry as I probably should be. But, no, Latvians aren't Slavs--they're Northern European. There are no actual Latvian enclaves in Russia that I know of, but Latvia was overtaken by the Russians for many years, so there was much intermarriage between the two countries--there are many Latvians of Russian heritage, and vice-versa.

As to what Latvian men look like...see, they resemble...well...Vladimir Putin. He has that extremely pale, washed-out look so many of them have.

Not the world's greatest answer, I know, but it's the best I can do. If I find out any more info about him, I'll let you know!

[twigs]

Thanks! Your reply did help. Russia is 2/3 Slav, so when I think of someone who looks Russian, I think Slav, so I did not think Putin looked "Russian." It's all so interesting. We can tell my husband has some interesting ancestry just by looking at him, but we have no idea where it's from. His grandmother is from Dresden and when we recently found a photo of her, she looked like a gypsy. And her mother looked Slavic! Genealogy is my hobby, but I have SO much to learn! Thanks again.

[twigs]

Thanks! A lot of good info there. All lines of my ancestors that I can find go back to Virginia from before our Revolution. I have a niece that looks a like her mother, whose ancestors also came from VA, but I don't know about all her lines. I went into a Russian restaurant lately and couldn't believe it. The proprietress, who spoke Russsian and only broken English, was a spitting image of my niece, who owns her own catering business. Eery!