Women Archives - Hungaria Stamp Exchange

Royals On Stamps Of Eastern Europe

What do Queen Marie of Romania, King Tutankhamen, Czar Nicholas of Russia, Saint Vladimir of Ukraine, and Princess Diana of England have in common? They are all represented on stamps of Eastern Europe. When the various countries of Eastern Europe Intersect with their far reaching monarchies, the result can be a fascinating plethora of philatelic offerings. Please join us in exploring Royals, our newest collection.

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Kings

On stamps have been issued by Eastern European countries for multiple centuries. One of the earliest postal stamps issued by Hungary was of beloved King Franz Joseph, emperor of Austria and King Of Hungary 1867-1917, which is a rare find for country philatelists, while the recent issuance from Hungary celebrating the Discovery of King Tutankhamun is a delight for topical collectors.

**Slovakia Coronation King Ferdinand II**

Czars and Sultans

Czar Nicholas ll was the last Emperor of Russia, while also having the titles of King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He ruled from 1894 until his abdication in 1917 and ended the Romanov dynasty.

Sultan Sulieman (Sulieman The Magnificent) is often revered as one of the greatest Ottoman rulers as the Empire reached the peak of its political and military power when he was a Sultan.

The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest and most long-lasting empires in history. At its greatest extent, the empire extended to three continents — stretching from the Balkans in southeastern Europe across Central Asia, Arabia, and North Africa, thanks in large part to the Ottoman military and its use of gunpowder.

Queens and Empresses

On stamps of Eastern Europe present impressive and enduring female rulers.

Catherine the Great was the Empress of Russia (1762 -1796) and the longest ruling female ruler of Russia. The period of her rule, The Catherinian Era is considered the Golden Age of Russia. She came to power following a coup d’etat to overthrow her husband. She was considered an “enlightened” despot. She led crushing victories over the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish wars, accessed territories along the Black and Azov seas and partitioned what is present day Poland placing it under control of Russia.

Maria Teresa was Queen of the Hungarians, Czechs, Croatians and Archduchess of Austria reigning from 1740-1780. As the wife of Francis I (Holy Roman Emperor) she held the title of Empress, becoming the only female to reign the Hapsburg Monarchy. She was regarded as an enlightened ruler, abolishing torture and witch hunting and improving the position of peasants. Her lineage may be her most significant legacy impacting many of the rulers of Europe. Of her 11 daughters and 5 sons, three became famous rulers including Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, Leopold ll (of Belgium) and King Joseph ll (Emperor of Hungary and Austria). A joint philatelic issue celebrating the 300^th Anniversary of the Birth of Maria Teresa was issued in cooperation with Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Ukraine.

Queen Marie was the wife of King Ferdinand l and the last Queen of Romania. Born into the British royal family, Marie of Edinburgh, was Queen Victoria’s niece. She married Crown Prince Ferdinand of Romania, in 1892. Her first years on the Romanian throne were dedicated to learning the Romanian language and culture. During the first two years of World War I, Romania was neutral. On 27 August 1916, Romania enters into World War I on the side of the Allied Powers, pitting Ferdinand against his own native land, Germany. Queen Marie knew the war was the only possibility for Romania to fulfill the dream of a grand national union. Historians are convinced that King’s Ferdinand decision to enter the war on the side of the Allied Powers was influenced by Queen Marie.

By December 1918 the dream of the Romanian nation is accomplished for Romanians but must be confirmed with the rest of the world. Queen Marie leads the delegation to the Allied Peace conference that will determine Romania’s fate on the international stage. Queen Marie’s visit to French Prime Minister Clemenceau becomes very popular. At a time when women’s involvement in politics or society is not very much appreciated, Queen Marie dares to ask the French statesman for help to recover Romania’s provinces. Although she did not have the same success with all the delegates, Queen Marie of Romania managed to tilt the balance in favor of her country at the Peace Conference in Paris. On October 15, 1922, King Ferdinand and Queen Marie are crowned king and queen of all Romanians.

Princes

On stamps of Eastern Europe include Bogdan lll The One-Eyed from Moldova, Prince Svatopluk of Moravia (modern day Slovakia), and Prince Danylo Romanovych of Ukraine. The prince stamp issuance from Bosnia (Serb) is a unique display of The Sad Prince, a children’s story.

Stamp offerings of Prince Vlads range from Kvivan Prince St. Vladimir to the Romanian Prince Vlad of Transylvania, or Count Dracula!

Princesses

On Eastern European stamps, range from the daughters of Kings Bela of Hungary depicted in the Saints and Blessed series, the character from the animated film The Stolen Princess, Ruslan and Ludmila issued by Ukraine, Hungary’s offering of the Gypsy Princess to the issuances of Princess Diana from Azerbaijan, Romania and Moldova.

Crowns & Coats of Arms

Saint Stephen’s Crown, venerated crown of Hungary, is the symbol of Hungarian nationhood. This crown is what ensured true acceptance of the sovereign by the Hungarian people. Pope Sylvester II made Stephen the gift of a crown when he became King of Hungary on Christmas Day in the year 1000. During World War II and into the Soviet Era, the Crown was entrusted to a U.S. Army unit by a Hungarian honor guard to keep it from being seized by first Nazi then Soviet troops. It remained in U.S. guardianship at Fort Knox until it was returned in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter.

Coats Of Arms

Royals on Stamps of Eastern Europe can take on many metamorphosis and be represented by Sports Royalty, Music Royalty and even Religious Royalty.

Music Royalty

Issuances of Music Royalty have depth and a wide range on the stamps of Eastern Europe, from Ukraine’s Jamala, Winner of Eurovision Song Competitions, to Hungary ‘s Composer Béla Bartók’s Opera Bluebeard’s Castle, to jazz icons Ella Fitzgerald and Elvis “The King”.

Of special interest is the haunting 2020 joint issuances of Beethoven by Ukraine, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Macedonia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Romania and Poland.

Sports Royalty

On Eastern European stamps include Olympic athletes, World Cup skiers, weight lifters, boxers, wrestlers, ice hockey, tennis, soccer and swimming champions.

Of special note is the Hungary Souvenir sheet of the 1956 Olympics. This sheet commemorates the brave Hungarian athletes who competed during the Hungarian Revolution. The water polo team in particular fought a “bloody match” against the Soviet Russian team while the brave Hungarian patriots stood their ground in the streets of Hungary against Soviet oppression. The Hungarian water polo team won their famous “Blood in the Water” match against the Soviet Union 4-0.

Religious & Social Activist Royalty

Eastern European stamp issuances include the beautiful Saints and Blessed Series from Hungary issued over several years.

Included in the series is one of the most important figures in the foundation of the Church in Hungary. Saint Astrik was a Benedictine monk, the abbot of several monasteries, ambassador, bishop and archbishop. He was summoned by King Stephen in 1000 to accomplish his most important diplomatic mission, to bring a crown and permission to establish an ecclesiastical organization in Hungary from Pope Sylvester II in Rome. In the summer of 1001 he acted as a papal nuncio in Hungary and was appointed arch bishop of Kalocsa by the he first Hungarian king, Saint Stephen. Astrik was invaluable in establishing Christianity in Hungary and he constantly strove for the salvation of souls by leading an exemplary holy life.

Modern day religious royalty on stamps of Eastern Europe include Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II.

There are some Royalty On Stamps of Eastern Europe that supersede any one category as they are really personalities that have changed the World.

**Moldova Personalities That Changed The World :**
**Mother Teresa, Raffaello Sanzio, Florence Nightingale, Ludwig van Beethoven**

From all of us here at the Hungaria Stamp Exchange we hope you have enjoyed viewing the highlights of newest collection Royals on Stamps of Eastern Europe.

With our sincere wishes for a peaceful holiday season of Easter, Passover and Ramadan.

Sincerely,

The Bauer Family

Europa: Celebrating Decades of Eastern European Stamps

Europa are special stamp issues offered by European Postal administrations to promote cooperation across postal domains and philately. These stamps help build awareness of common culture, roots and history of Europe. Each year Europa stamps issued by European postal administrations and enterprises currently bear the official EUROPA logo. Europe is the central theme with a specific topic selected annually.

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View Ukrainian Peace Stamps >>

The first Europa stamps were issued in 1956 by the founding six member countries of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg and the Netherlands under coordination of the European Communities. This first stamp issued had both a common theme and a common design “Rebuilding Europe”: a tower made up of the letters of the word “EUROPA” and surrounded by construction scaffolding. By 1957 the common theme of “Uniting Europe” was supported by a unique stamp designed issued by the member countries.

Europa themes over the decades cover a broad range of themes and venues.

HSE is pleased to offer this philatelic cornucopia of Europa: Stamps of Eastern Europe .

Art & Music

Europa Art

stamp issuances include Contemporary Art, Paintings and Poster Art.

Europa Musical Instruments

Many types of ethnic folk instruments are represented in Europa : Musical Instruments stamps of Eastern Europe, ranging from stringed instruments such as the zither to bagpipes. The Ukraine Europa issuance depicts the Cossack Mamai playing the kobza and symbolizes the singing soul of the Ukrainian people while the Czech Republic issuance depicts Bagpipes which are an ancient folk musical instrument. The kokle (or kuōkle) is a Latvian plucked string musical instrument (chordophone) of the zither family. It is similar in construction and origin to the Lithuanian kanklės, Russian gusli, and Estonian kannel.

The Post

Europa stamp offerings with the theme of The Post range from Letter Writing, Postmen, Postal Vans, Post Offices, to Ancient Postal Routes.

Europa 2020 celebrates the Ancient Postal Routes which were the primary way in ancient times of connecting together the peoples of differing cultures and geographies.

*Europa*: Ancient Postal Routes **offerings from Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania**

Nature and Conservation

The Europa stamp offerings of Nature and Conservation include themes of Wildlife and Forests, Nature Preserves and National Parks, Water and Scouting

*Europa* 2021 : Endangered National Wildlife offerings Eastern Europe

Europa : Famous Women

issuances of Eastern Europe range from poets Elisavet of Bulgaria and Marie Under of Estonia to Cvijeta Zuzoric and Ivan Mazuranic writers of Croatia to Queen Gisela of Hungary to Madame Curie and Mother Teresa.

Europa: Festivals, Celebrations and Gastronomy

Festivals and National Celebrations, Souvenir Sheet issuance of Moldova represents the Martisor Music Festival while the stamp of Slovenia depicts Jurjevanje (Green George’s Festival). Moldova Europa: Festivals and National Celebrations features Eugene Ionesco biennial Theater Festival and Lurceni ceramics, Nisporeni with Croatia pair issuance highlighting Varazdin Baroque Evenings musical notes and Dubrovnik Summer Festival.

Hungary Europa Gastronomy stamp depicts a traditional plate of chicken paprika and dumplings while the Bosnia (Croat) pair depicts wine, garlic, ham, cheese and bread, grapes and nuts. The colorful stamp pair from Estonia shows of the food of the rainbow and a vegetable wrap made of tomato, carrots, egg yolk, parsley, fish, onion, beet.

Europa stamp issuances about children include Children’s Books and Old Toys.

Europa: Circus

Who can resist the Circus? Certainly philatelists of all ages cannot! We hope you enjoy these delightful Europa: Circus offerings from Countries “A to Y” as much as we do including the final classic souvenir sheet issued from the former Slavic Union of Yugoslavia.

***Europa*** **Latvia Circus Tete Beche**

Europa 1995: Peace and Freedom

The Greece stamp pair designs depicts the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Concentration Camps and Peace doves dove flying above a broken barbed wire fence.

**Greece – 1995 Europa: Peace and Freedom Pair**

In anticipation of the Europa theme of Peace for 2023 : please join us in supporting the people of Ukraine and the Eastern European postal authorities currently issuing stamps in their support.

Here is the statement published by Post of Croatia in support of the stamp issuance.

“On 24 February 2022, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation launched an
unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. The Republic of Croatia strongly
condemned and reaffirmed its support for Ukraine’s independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders, which is a fundamental determinant in the relations and cooperation between the Republic of Croatia and Ukraine.

On 25 February 2022, the Croatian Parliament adopted the Declaration on Ukraine, which expresses Croatia’s full solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people who are fighting to defend their country and calls for an end to Russia’s military aggression against the Ukrainian people and infrastructure and for the establishment of peace.”

“Stories and Myths”

This year’s Europa theme is “Stories and Myths” Here is a preview of a few of the 2022 issues.

The tale of the white horse is one of the myths and legends about how the land of Hungary was acquired dating from the time the Magyar tribes settled in the Carpathian Basin. The motif of the Croatia stamp is the mythological Tree of the World – an ancient Croatian myth about the structure of the universe. The Bosnia Herzegovina stamp depicts the Bogeyman, a creature from the mythology of the South Slavs who scares and kidnaps naughty children and takes them to her lair.

We hope you enjoyed our “cornucopia” of Europa stamp offerings and take a look at our full collection in our online store.

All of us at HSE wish you good health and a peaceful summer.

The Bauer Family

Eastern European Stamps of Women

Dear Friends and Philatelists,
Summertime is a traditional time for taking a family holiday or perhaps visiting another country or city. The summer of 2020 finds many of us not currently able to do this given these challenging times. It is, however, an opportune time to reconnect with our stamp collections and continue our philatelic travels, perhaps to new countries or with new topics or themes. And of course, we can continue to connect with family and friends, if even at a distance. Now is certainly time to pay tribute to our many brave front-line workers.

Monarchs, Saints, Performers, & Scientists and Social Activists

Eastern European Stamps of Women span a wide range of topics, from monarchs to saints and scientists, artists and performers, to social activists and heroines. The Hungaria Stamp Exchange hopes you enjoy reading our blog post and viewing some of the stamps in our on-line store.

Monarchs

Two of the most influential female Eastern European monarchs whose combined reigns lasted almost 75 years were Catherine the Great of Russia and Maria Teresa, ruling the Hapsburg Empire. Both of these extraordinary rulers are depicted on Eastern European stamps.

Catherine the Great (born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; May 1729 –November 1796) was Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796 and the country’s longest-ruling female leader. She came to power following a coup d’état that she organized, resulting in her husband, Peter III, being overthrown. During her reign Russia was revitalized; it grew larger and stronger and was recognized as one of the great powers of Europe and Asia.

In her accession to power and her rule of the empire, Catherine often relied on her noble favorites, most notably count Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Assisted by highly successful generals such as Alexander Suvorov and admirals such as Fyodor Ushakov, she governed at a time when the Russian Empire was expanding rapidly by conquest and diplomacy. In the south, the Crimean Khanate was crushed following victories over the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish wars. Russia colonized the territories of Novorossiya along the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. In the west, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ruled by Catherine’s former lover, King Stanisław August Poniatowski, was eventually partitioned with the Russian Empire gaining the largest share. In the east, Russia started to colonize Alaska, establishing Russian America.

An admirer of Peter the Great, Catherine continued to modernize Russia along Western European lines. The economy and military conscription continued to depend on serfdom; increasing demands of the state and of private landowners intensified the exploitation of serf labor. This was one of the chief reasons inciting several rebellions including the large scale Pugachev Rebellion of Cossacks and peasants. Cossacks were a group of Russian military warriors who established free self-governing communities in exchange for their military service. When their privileges were threatened they revolted, with the most famous being Pugachev.