diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index fc9979eaa..4b3932fb7 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+2007-08-31  Benny Malengier <benny.malengier@gramps-project.org> 
+	* src/PlaceUtils.py: request #1199
+
 2007-08-31  Stephane Charette  <stephanecharette@gmail.com>
 	* src/Filters/Rules/_HasReferenceCountBase.py: move some filter code
 	from ::apply() into ::prepare() to ensure it executes only once
diff --git a/src/PlaceUtils.py b/src/PlaceUtils.py
index f040f0b63..fa298f2b7 100644
--- a/src/PlaceUtils.py
+++ b/src/PlaceUtils.py
@@ -175,6 +175,9 @@ def conv_lat_lon(latitude, longitude, format="D.D4"):
             val = val.replace( r'#',r'_')
             #allow to input " as ''
             val = val.replace( r"''",r'"')
+            #allow some special unicode symbols
+            val = val.replace( u"″",r'"')
+            val = val.replace( u"′",r"'")
             #ignore spaces
             val = val.replace(r'\s*', r'')
             # get the degrees, must be present