
The Yuri Gadyukin Wikipedia Hoax (2013) - antigizmo
http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/features-issue-sections/13362/greatest-wikipedia-hoax-ever
======
lylejohnson
By the end of the article it had crossed my mind that Boyter and Ducker (the
perpetrators of the hoax) were themselves fictitious characters, and that the
article itself was part of a larger hoax.

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
Oh wow. Sure enough:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Boyter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Boyter)

~~~
dbingham
If you read the deletion log, it was deleted simply because he's not notable
enough yet. There may also be an element of retribution, because the deletion
log also mentions the hoax.

------
chii
it seems to suck that the page is deleted out-right. I would rather that the
page altered to reveal that it was all a hoax, but still describe the
ficticious person, and perhaps also describe how the hoax was perpetrated.
Those tidbits are rather interesting, and would be a shame to have all been
lost in the next few decades.

~~~
at-fates-hands
I agree.

It's interesting to note that Wikipedia does this for other pages that were
"based on real facts" or were hoaxes. The one that comes to mind right away is
Blair Witch.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blair_Witch_Project](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blair_Witch_Project)

 _The movie 's official website featured fake police reports and "newsreel-
style" interviews. These augmented the movie's found footage style to spark
debates across the internet over whether the movie was a real-life documentary
or a work of fiction.[30]_

Apparently when its their OX getting gored its not ok.

~~~
vilhelm_s
Articles about hoaxes need to meet same notability standards as other
Wikipedia articles. If other newspapers write widely about the Gadyukin
article and it becomes a famous example, then an article about it will
presumably be created.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Do_not_create_hoaxes...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Do_not_create_hoaxes#Hoaxes.2C_versus_articles_about_hoaxes)

------
spacko
Is there any proof that this Wikipedia page actually existed for a significant
time?

[https://web.archive.org/web/20130321015446/http://en.wikiped...](https://web.archive.org/web/20130321015446/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gadyukin)

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
See:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wikipedia)

Wikipedia claims Yuri's page lasted for "3 years, 7 months"

~~~
spacko
How do we know if that is true? I'd trust the article's diffing history,
though. But that is gone - just as the text of the article is nowhere to be
found.

~~~
BorgHunter
The article was moved from its original location to
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wikipedia/Yuri_Gadyukin)
. Its edit history is intact there; click "View History" at the top there to
see it.

~~~
spacko
"Now I'm a believer ..." _[1]_

Sources:

[1]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfuBREMXxts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfuBREMXxts)

------
stplsd
This is hilarious:

"Following the controversy of Where the Tractor’s Roam, Gadyukin’s arrival in
London was received with great expectations. His first production in the UK
was Waiting… in 1956, a project born out of a desire to film Samuel Beckett’s
stage play “Waiting for Godot”. Beckett however, was unhappy with the textual
changes Gadyukin proposed and withheld permission for an adaptation.
Gadyukin’s film is a testament to his ability to tread a fine line, being very
close to Beckett’s play in places but always with sufficient alterations to
avoid a lawsuit. Waiting… was both experimental in narrative and formal terms,
much of the dialogue being a mix of English and Esperanto. Despite a warm
reception from European festivals Waiting... met with mixed reviews from the
British press and did little business."

------
TazeTSchnitzel
I had a feeling that Gadyukin sounded wrong, and sure enough. So I guess they
were foiled by not having basic Russian knowledge.

~~~
Grue3
It doesn't sound wrong, actually. It's a surname produced from the Russian
word for "viper" (гадюка), which would make it unusual due to negative
connotations, but not incorrect.

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
Ah, okay. Still, it's not a real surname, which caught them out.

~~~
at-fates-hands
After 3 years.

------
afrancis
Reading this article reminded me of the "Nate Tate" art hoax
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Tate:_An_American_Artist_1...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Tate:_An_American_Artist_1928%E2%80%931960))

------
redthrowaway
This article was originally published in The Daily Dot in 2013:

[http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/wikipedia-hoax-yuri-
ga...](http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/wikipedia-hoax-yuri-gadyukin-
nitrate-movie/)

This is a re-print.

~~~
dang
Thanks, we added 2013 to the title.

------
emmelaich
Lovers of hoaxes should read about Ern Malley.

    
    
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ern_Malley
    

As the article points out, Ern is more famous than either of the hoaxers. The
hoaxee Max Harris is also more famous.

------
pavel_lishin
Reminds me quite a bit of Neal Stephenson's Anathem - the concept of bogons,
introduced in one of the later chapters.

------
herbig
What I find more interesting is that the site recycled an article from two
years ago and posted it with today's date.

------
octatoan
Borgesian indeed. :)

------
toolslive
reminds me of "Benjamin Breeg"

