Korea's King Sejong Stamps

A statue of King Sejong in Seoul's Yeouido Park.

One of Korea's national heroes is the Joseon-era King Sejong (1397-1450). Under the rule of King Sejong, many scientific advancements were made, legal and political reforms were enacted, the Japanese pirates that plagued Korea were neutralized, and the Manchu armies were kept at bay by Joseon military forces. Most importantly of all, King Sejong himself is credited with creating the Korean alphabet known as Hangul (한글). This system of 24 letters made the ordinary people of Korea literate and remains the default alphabet of Korea to this very day. In effect, King Sejong took many of the priviledges of the upper classes - in particular the ability to read and write - and handed them down to the rest of the country's population. He has remained a hero to the Korean people to this very day.

King Sejong also enjoys a special distinction that very few other monarchs worldwide can enjoy: He is one of five linguistic scholars worldwide to be depicted on national currency. His likeness has adorned the ₩10,000 won bill since 1962, making him one of Korea's most instantly recognizable historical figures.

It's no small wonder then that he has been the subject of a number of stamp issues in South Korea since the ROK was established after World War II! Since 1948, Korea Post has issued several different commemoratives of King Sejong and the Hangul alphabet.

A King Sejong stamp from 1956.

The first King Sejong definitive stamp was issued at the end of 1956. This stamp is a 40-won stamp that depicts a seated Sejong on the face. In July 1957, this stamp was printed in a shade of red rather than the original purple.

The King Sejong definitive of 1961-62.

Five years later, another definitive was issued commemorating King Sejong and his greatest achievement, the Hangul alphabet. This 3-won stamp features a close-up of King Sejong surrounded by all 24 Hangul letters. In 1966, this stamp was re-issued in red and had the official English name of South Korea - "Republic of Korea" - listed above the Korean name of Korean Post.

In 1993, Korea Post would issue another King Sejong stamp. This 710-won definitive was printed in full color and featured the famous painting of Sejong. Behind him is Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음), the document that listed the Hangul alphabet and explained its usage to the people. Another version of this stamp, a  red 910 won stamp, was issued a year later. Both of these stamps commemorated scientific achievements during the early years of the Joseon Dynasty and reflected the increase in postage rates that took effect in 1993.

In 2000, a King Sejong stamp similar to the ones above would be issued as part of the fifth issue of the Millineum Series issued by Korea Post commemorating important figures from Korean history and their achievements. However, this one also featured the section from Hunminjeongeum titled  "Pictorial Vowels Representing the Eight Divination Signs" interspersed with the rest of the artwork.

In 2008, a set of commemoratives were issued that pertain to King Sejong. However, these do not feature the king himself, but the South Korean station in Antarctica that was named after him! This set features artwork depicting the station and station personnel riding around on snowmobiles amid penguins and forbidding cliffs of ice. It was released in commemoration of the station's 20th anniversary.

King Sejong is one of Korea's greatest kings who not only changed Korean history forever, but also left his mark on Korean philatelic history!

(King Sejong statue image copyright: InSapphoWeTrust via Wikimedia Commons.)

1955 Brazilian Padre Bento Stamp

A Brazilian "Padre Bento" postage tax stamp circa 1955.

In my post about the Buda Castle commemorative, I discussed a mammoth stamp that you just might have in your collection. Now here's a stamp you may have in your collection that just might be one of the smallest!

In 1955, Correios Brasil (the Brazilian postal service) issued a series of postal tax stamps commemorating one of Brazil's national heroes: Father Bento Dias Pacheco, or "Padre Bento". Padre Bento was a priest who initially served the slaves in the Itu district around the city of São Paulo, but later on would dedicate his life to serving people suffering with Hansen's disease, or leprosy. He lived in a leper's colony at Finca de Piedade and helped the people there with their daily needs. He dressed and cleansed their wounds and helped those who could no longer see or walk. For forty-two years Padre Bento put the welfare of these people before his own and dedicated his every waking hour to them. He served the patients at Finca de Piedade until his dying day in 1911.

Father Bento Dias Pacheco. (Wikimedia Commons)

In Brazil, he is remembered as a hero and a role model. He is buried at the Igreja do Senhor do Horto e São Lázaro church in the Itu neighborhood named Padre Bento in his honor. For the past decade a campaign for the Vatican to beatify and canonize Padre Bento as a saint has been underway in Brazil, where he is remembered as a man who answered his calling and dared to go where other people feared to tread.

This stamp features a portrait of Padre Bento and the inscription Preservacao da crianca contra o mal de Hansen ("[Protecting] the [children] against the evil of Hansen's Disease). This series is a multi-colored set issued in 10 centavos denominations. In 1963, this series (Scott # RA10) was re-issued, but with the inscription Correios do Brasil in a different font.

This stamp may be small, but it tells the story of an amazing man who is not very well-known outside of Brazil!

Links:
-http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bento_Dias_Pacheco (Entry in Portugese Wikipedia about Bento Dias Pacheco.)

1986 Hungarian Recapture of Buda Castle Stamp

The Hungarian stamp from 1986 depicting the recapture of Buda Castle.

I think anyone who is lucky enough to own this stanp will agree that this is one of the largest stamps, if not the largest, to grace the pages of their stamp album! However, it's a stamp that's not only humongous in size, but rich with Hungarian history and art.

This 4-forint stamp, which was issued by the Hungarian postal service in September 1986, commemorates the 300th anniversary of the recapture of Buda Castle from the Ottoman Turks by the Holy League in 1686. Featured on the stamp face is Hungarian artist Gyula Benczúr's (1844-1920) famous painting from 1896 titled Budavár visszavétele, or The Recapture of Buda Castle in 1686 in English.

This stamp was also significant in that a year later, UNESCO would designate Buda Castle a Budapest World Heritage Site.

This stamp definitely has a special place in the collection of anyone who collects Hungarian stamps!

1961 "Paraguay en Marcha" Stamps

The "Paraguay en Marcha" stamp series from 1961.

In 1961, the Parguayan postal service issued a set of stamps depicting technological and industrial progress across the nation at the time when Paraguay was ruled by Gen. Alfredo Stroessner and the Colorado Party. This issue, titled "Paraguay en Marcha" ("Progress in Paraguay"), featured a barge hauling logs and a radio tower. These stamps were issued in 90 céntimos as well as 1, 2, and 5 guaraní denominations.

Romanian Space Stamps

During the height of the Soviet space program in the 1960s, countries throughout the Communist bloc issued stamps commemorating the achievements of the Soviet Union in space. One of these countries was Romania. Throughout the decades of Communist rule, Romania issued a number of stamps and stamp series that commemorated nearly every aspect of the Soviet space program. Satellites, unmanned rocket launches, manned space flights and the cosmonauts that made history were all commemorated on Romanian stamp issues during the Space Race. That space stamp tradition has continued well into the Romania of today. Also, some of Romania's stamps commemorate the contributions Romania itself gave to space travel and exploration. These stamps not only celebrate the lives and achiements of Romania's space pioneers, but also tell the world a little about their fascinating stories!

During the 1950s and early 1960s, Romania issued numerous stamp issues and commemoratives commemorating the Sputnik and Luna missions. When Yuri Gagarin made his historic flight in 1961 and became the first man in space, commemoratives were issued a mere week later celebrating the milestone.

A series of stamps from 1963 commemorating the Vostok 5 & 6 missions, which took place - and concluded - on June 19th of that year.

In June of 1963, the Soviet Union made space history not once but twice. On the 21st of June, Valery Bykovski returned to Earth in Vostok 5 and Valentina Tereshkova blasted off in Vostok 6. Bykovsky set the endurance record for the time by spending 5 days in orbit around the earth (and returned to Earth on the same day Valentina blasted off into space) while Tereshkova was the first woman in space. These were two historical milestones for the Soviet space program and both were made on the same day! They were both honored by the Romanian postal service not long afterwards in the stamps above.

Two Romanian spcae stamps from 1965-66.

Of course the spacecraft themselves were commemorated in Romanian postage stamps! On the left are stamps from two separate series: The "Satellite" series of 1965 and the "Space" series of 1966. These series honored the various spacecraft and space missions carried out worldwide during those years, including the USSR's Venera ("Venus"), Voskhod, and Luna ("Moon") missions, France's FR-1 launch, and America's Gemini missions.

The stamp on the left commemorates the Soviet Venera-3 mission to Venus, which was the USSR's first attempt to land a probe on the surface of Venus. The mission was ultimately a failure, but it was commemorated on stamps worldwide, including this one.

Also in 1965, NASA's successfully launched the Intelsat-1, or "Early Bird" satellite. This was the first commercial communications satellite and was noteworthy, among other things, for broadcasting the Gemini 6 splashdown and Our World, the very first satellite TV special. The stamp on the right comes from the "Satellites" series of 1966 and commemorates this historic satellite launch.

This series is noteworthy in that it stayed "neutral" in the Space Race and honored the achievements made in space by both East and West.

Two stamps from 1982 commemorating Romania's "founding fathers of space".

In 1982, the Romanian postal service issued two stamps commemorating its own "founding fathers" of space travel: Henri Coandă and Hermann Oberth. Both of these men are national heroes and without them, space flights may never have become a possibility.

Coandă was a pioneer of aerodynamics and an inventor who, among other things,  is said by some to have invented the world's first jet in 1910. Coandă's achievements have been a source of pride for the Romanian people over the years. So much so that a commemorative stamps has been issued in Romania honoring his achievements as recently as 2010!

Hermann Oberth was one of the pioneers of rocket propulsion in the 20th century. He came to Germany as a young man in the 1910s and a decade later, became involved with the Verein für Raumschiffahrt (or "The Spaceflight Society" in English), which also included fellow space pioneers Wernher Von Braun (who he also mentored) and Capt.Walter Dornberger among its ranks. However, Oberth remained in Romania throughout the 1920s and 1930s. In 1938, he relocated to Germany and worked in Hitler's rocket program during World War II. In the 1960s, he came to the US and worked for Von Braun at NASA and helped develop the Saturn-V rocket. Oberth made many other achievements in space travel during his lifetime and all of these achievements led to him being honored on postage stamps back home in Romania.

A Romanian airmail stamp from 1963 dedicated to Laika. This stamp features artwork used on an earlier stamp from 1959 .

There is one Soviet space pioneer whose flight into space was initially celebrated across the Communist bloc and has since been commemorated all around the world. That pioneer is Laika, the first dog into space and the first creature to orbit the earth.

In 1957, the Soviet space authorities wanted to test the effects of space flight on a living creature. For these tests they selected Laika, a stray dog from the streets of Moscow, to be placed on board Sputnik-2 and put into orbit around the earth until it re-entered Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated. Sadly enough, Laika would ultimately die during this mission and it wasn't known until 2002 that she died six hours into the mission from overheating and stress.

Over the years, postage stamps have been issued around the world commemorating her flight and her ultimate sacrifice. Romania has issued a number over the years, including the one above.

During the 1970s-80s, many more space stamps were issued in Romania. These included stamps commemorating the flight of Romania's first cosmonaut. When Dumitru Prunariu blasted off into space aboard Soyuz-40 in 1981, it was cause for celebration across the country...as well as a cause for issuing a special commemorative!

There have been other space stamps issued by the Romanian postal service since the glory days of the Space Race. These have honored the achievements made by the men and women from all around the globe who have given their all - and sometimes their lives - to explore the realms of space. They include those men and women from Romania itself who have made their own entries into the annals of space and flight history, but have remained largely unknown in the West.

Sources:
-http://www.spaceandastronomystamps.com/rou.xhtml (A listing of all Romanian space stamps issued from 1957 to 2011.)

Italian 1967 Resistance on the Piave Commemorative Stamp

One of the most decisive and historic battles in the Italian theater of World War I was the Battle of the Piave River in 1918. During the course of the previous autumn, Italian forces had suffered some major setbacks at the Battles of Caporetto and Longarone. They were driven out of modern-day Slovenia by Austro-Hungarian and German forces and were now facing an invasion at their own doorstep.

On June 15th, 1918, that invasion by Austro-Hungarian Forces (with German approval) finally took place. The Italians set up a defensive line along the Piave River in northeast Italy and, with a little help from Mother Nature and an Allied offensive along the Asiago Plateau, held down the invaders. On the 23rd of June, the Austro-Hungarian forces retreated. When the battle was over, 60,000 of their soldiers had died and nearly 80,000 Italian soldiers were killed or wounded. This battle was also the beginning of the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. To this day the Battle of the Piave River is still held dear in Italian memory and is even commemorated in a popular folk song.

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the battle in 1968, Poste Italiane released a special stamp commemorating this battle. The Resistenza sul Piave ("Resistance on [the] Piave") stamp of 1967 is a very solemn one. On the face of this 50 lire stamp we can see a lone Italian soldier standing on the banks of the river and watching the sunrise amidst all the devastation of war.

This stamp is a very powerful tribute to those that fought and died in that bloody battle fought nearly a century ago....

1964 Bulgarian Coup/Partisan Power Commemorative Stamp

One of the most dramatic events in Europe during the final days of World War II was the Bulgarian coup d' état of 1944. This coup, which was supported by the USSR (which had just invaded the northeast of the country), is not very well-known in the West. 

For those who aren't familiar with the events of this coup, here they are in a nutshell: At the end of August, the Axis government of Bulgaria, facing an imminent Soviet invasion, switched its allegiance to the Allies. On the 5th of September, Moscow declared war on Bulgaria and invaded the northeast of the country. Over the course of the next two days, unrest broke out across the country. On the 9th of September, a nationwide uprising largely led by Communist groups, partisans and workers broke out against both the Bulgarian monarchy and the national government. As a result of the coup, the monarchy and government were swept from power and the Red Army halted its advance in northeast Bulgaria since there was no need to topple the government by force.

Twenty years after the coup, Bulgarian Posts issued a 20-year commemorative of this turning point in Bulgarian history, as well as 20 years of the People's Republic of Bulgaria. This stamp features a World War II-era partisan in a Red Army-type uniform brandishing a PPsH submachine gun and standing guard over a scene of modern Bulgaria. On the left of the stamp we see the flag of the Bulgarian Communist Party and the date of the coup - or the Socialist Revolution of 9 September as it was commonly known prior to 1989.

This stamp commemorates an event not widely known outside of Bulgaria itself and is a shining example of the dramatic stamps issued by Bulgaria Posts during the days of Communist rule.