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Sozi P. Tulante

Litigation

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Sozi achieved infamy in 2002 by appearing on Jeopardy! Like Cliff from Cheers, he lost on the final question, a question about Africa no less (the country, er continent, where he is originally from). As a result of that experience, he has retired from his pursuit of trivia, though he will entertain questions on esoteric topics if pressed. To this day, he loses his sangfroid when there’s a mention of anyone named Trebek. Sozi does have the distinction of being the first person from his country to lose on Jeopardy!

People often wonder where Sozi got such an unusual name (which, by the way, rhymes with “cozy” and “rosy”). Well, it’s from Zaire, now called Congo, where Sozi was born not so long ago and left/was expelled/escaped in 1983. The name of Sozi’s country of birth has continuously caused confusion when he travels. He has been stopped at immigration in many countries (Italy, Brazil, etc.) and queried, “how come your U.S. passport says you were born in a country – Zaire – that no longer exists?” He has to explain that, in 1997, the government of Zaire (after never replying to, and obviously rejecting, Sozi’s offer that they change the name to “the Country Formerly Known as Zaire” (CFKZ)) decided to change the country’s name to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an odd name because at the time the country was not democratic, not a republic, and, at least for most of his life, was not the Congo. That explanation has so far worked everywhere Sozi has traveled, except, of course, in the DRC. When he returned there in 2003, they missed the humor and demanded some monetary inducement in order to laugh. They laughed eventually and allowed him to enter, and, more crucially, exit the country. Nevertheless, he plans to return there soon to visit his family.