3 FEBRUARY 2007, Page 16

Not entirely Trujillo

From Stephen Schwartz Sir: Taki (High life, 27 January) should know that Rafael Leonidas Trujillo did not rename the Dominican Republic after himself — only its capital, before and after known as Santo Domingo and briefly as 'Ciudad Trujillo', `ciudad' being Spanish for city. And I would have thought Taki would recall that the only country in the world named for its rulers is Saudi Arabia, which did not exist as a name until 1932, when it was retitled by the House of Saud.

Stephen Schwartz Centre for Islamic Pluralism, Washington, DC