Romfilatelia: Postage stamp issue dedicated to Avram Iancu, 150 years since his death

On the occasion of the 150^th anniversary of the passing to the eternity of the most beloved son of Transylvania, “The Prince of the Mountains” (in Romanian, “Crăişorul munţilor”), Avram Iancu, Romfilatelia introduced into circulation on Tuesday, September 6^th, a commemorative issue with the generic title „Avram Iancu, 150 years since his death”, consisting of a postage stamp and a perforated souvenir sheet, which have the face values of Lei 10 and Lei 32.

The portraits reproduced on the postage stamps depict the paintings belonging to the authors Mișu Popp and Barbu Iscovescu. The graphic next to the postmark of the perforated souvenir sheet reproduces a suggestive drawing for a speech of Avram Iancu in front of the Transylvanian patriots prepared for combat action.

The First Day Cover of the issue, thematically illustrates the portrait of the National Hero of the Romanians on the faded background of the drawing also presented in the graphics of the philatelic souvenir sheet.

Born in Vidra de Sus, in the legendary land of the Apuseni Mountains, the ones sprinkled with gold that gives birth to passions and hopes, Avram Iancu represents a symbol of two meanings: the first, the local meaning, since the revolution he started concerns the fate of the Transylvanian brothers, and the second, national meaning, given that his deeds are incorporated into the consciousness of integral Romanianism. This second meaning exceeds the intention of our hero, who only wanted to be a Transylvanian revolutionary, but the will of freedom of the entire people is found in him, he is claimed and revered as an emblem of Romanian history and nation.

The unique article of the Law no. 230/2016 has the following content: “To honour the memory of Avram Iancu (1824 – 1872), considered the greatest national hero of the Romanians in Transylvania, with exceptional merits in asserting national identity and rights on the ancestral territory, the former leader of the Romanian Revolution of 1848 – 1849 in Transylvania is declared ‘Hero of the Romanian Nation’”.

English article by Romfilatelia

Photography courtesy of Romfilatelia