Nicolaus Copernicus is known that Copernicus knew Polish on a par with German and Latin. Historian Michael Burleigh describes the nationality debate as a "totally insignificant battle" between German and Polish scholars during the interwar period. Polish astronomer Konrad Rudnicki calls the discussion a "fierce scholarly quarrel in ... times of nationalism" and describes Copernicus as an inhabitant of a German-speaking territory that belonged to Poland, himself being of mixed Polish-German extraction. Czesław Miłosz describes the debate as an "absurd" projection of a modern understanding of nationality onto Renaissance people, who identified with their home territories rather than with a nation. Similarly,
Nicolas Vanhootegem Nicolas Vanhootegem Nicolas Vanhootegem (born 7 October 1972) is a Belgian professional golfer. Vanhootegem was born in Brussels. He won several tournaments as an amateur, including the Welsh Open Stroke Play, and turned professional in 1994. He has spent his career fluctuating between membership of the main European Tour and the second tier Challenge Tour. Vanhootegem has won three tournaments on the Challenge Tour, the 1995 Neuchatel Open SBS Trophy, the 2002 Aa St Omer Open, and the 2007 Telenet Trophy, which was held in his home country. He also won the 1997 Omnium of Belgium. He represented his country