Does it take an intelligent person to recognise an intelligent person?

What an interesting question that gets more complex as you think about it. I don't know that one has to be intelligent to recognize intelligence in others. I certainly can tell when I am dealing with someone who is much sharper than I in certain areas. What I do think is that it takes an educated and informed person to appreciate the manifestations of intelligence such as those you gave in your example. Someone who knows nothing about the finer points of rhetoric, syntax, effective language, etc. wouldn't recognize the effort the writer expended to create such a piece. That said, most humans can learn to recognized those attributes if they choose to do so. As a school teacher, I try to teach my students to write well and to recognize fine writing when they see it. Those who open their minds to this knowledge certainly can appreciate those skills when they find them. The good news is that while an extraordinarily intelligent person might identify these traits more quickly, students of average intelligence will eventually learn to recognize those same traits after enough exposure. We must never give up on ourselves or others. We are more capable than we realize.