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| 5630 Dunbar St. at 41st Ave. 604-684-4613 |
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy is a Stamp Collector |
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There is an item zinging around the global newswires today about the fact that the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, is an avid stamp collector. "Mr Sarkozy's collection is slowly growing into one of the most impressive in the world because of all the international leaders he is in regular contact with," a source at the newly formed Elysee Philatelist Club told the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper. In the latest insight into the 54-year-old’s private life, it was revealed that fellow heads of state including the Queen help fill up his albums. |
 Mr Sarkozy even sponsors the newly formed Elysée Philatelist Club, named after the Paris palace where he lives.
Paris-based Gala magazine revealed the existence of the stamp-collecting club, describing it as ‘an independent association based at the presidential residence.’ A few months ago he even organised a gathering of all the philately organisations in France, meeting to decide how to promote stamp collecting. In a letter to the French Federation of Philately Associations, Mr Sarkozy said: "I share your passion for stamps and philately. I have been a stamp collector since I was a young boy - this hobby is an opening to the world, to history and great events." "I'm still sure that philately will maintain its rightful place if stamps retain their social and economic utility, in terms of letter-writing, beauty and rarity. But stamps of course have |
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to adapt to 21st Century culture." "Philately is our hobby, it's also a world of artists, engravers, page designers. I want to pay homage to them, because it shows real talent to illustrate sometimes abstract topics, to create an original work of art for each stamp, covering such a small area." Pride of place in Mr Sarkozy's collection is said to be a British set issued in 2004 to celebrate the Entente Cordiale and presented to him by Queen Elizabeth II during his visit to Windsor Castle last year. |
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| Governor Schwarzenegger has also given the French president additions to his stamp collection - a blue leather album with the governor's seal on the cover and two framed first-day-issue envelopes with Californian stamps.
Being a stamp-collecting world leader is nothing new, of course and Queen Elizabeth would be in the perfect position to enhance President Sarkozy's collection as she is custodian of one of the greatest stamp collections in the world. |
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The Royal Philatelic Collection began in a small way through the enthusiasm of a young, stamp-collecting prince.
In 1856, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and his younger brother Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria's second son and later Duke of Edinburgh, were given panes of the soon to be issued new 6d stamps. That's right, PANES of mint 6d blacks. Before his death in 1900, the Duke of Edinburgh sold his collection to his older brother, who in turn gave it to his son, the Duke of York. He was already a very keen collector, and once wrote to his philatelic adviser, J. A. Tilleard: "I wish to have the best collection & not one of the best collections in England." In March 1893 he was elected Honorary Life Vice-President of the Royal Philatelic Society. On his marriage later in the year, fellow members of the Society gave him an album of postage stamps as a wedding present. It contained nearly 1,500 contributions from over 100 of the Society's members. |
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 In 1896 the Duke of York accepted the invitation to become Executive President of the Society, a position he held until he came to the Throne as King George V on 6 May 1910. As the 70th anniversary of the penny black, it was perhaps an appropriate date for the accession of a king who became one of the most renowned philatelists of his time.
He recognised rarity and made every effort to obtain the rarest stamps at the first possible opportunity. By 1904 he had acquired both the Penny and Two Pence 'Post Office' Mauritius of 1847 - the first stamps issued by a colonial post office and probably the most prized stamps that any collector could wish to acquire. The 1d was bought from the Earl of Kintore's collection, while the unused Two Pence 'Post Office' Mauritius was acquired at auction in 1904 for a then-record price of £1,450. A courtier asked the Prince if he had seen that "some damned fool had paid as much as 1400 pounds for one stamp". "Yes," came the reply. "I was that damned fool!" |
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The strength of his collection lies in its completeness. Regardless of how attractive or unattractive the stamps were, King George V never neglected a stamp issue provided that it was of good status. He also took a great interest in stamp design. Once the stamp-sized artists' sketches, which were submitted for his approval, had been used by the printers, they were usually returned for inclusion in his collection. Tradition has it when King George V was in London he spent three afternoons a week with his stamp collection. He was very rarely interrupted. Today King George V's collection is housed in 328 red albums, each of around 60 pages. After the death of King George V, Edward VIII became King. He is said to have considered selling the Royal Philatelic Collection but did not do so. Although the Collection is the personal asset of the Sovereign, it was, and is, regarded as an heirloom to pass down. After Edward VIII's short reign, his brother, King George VI, inherited the Collection. While he did not have George V's specialised knowledge, he did take considerable interest and the Collection continued to expand, with presented and bought material which is now largely mounted in blue albums and boxes. During The Queen's reign a considerable volume of material has been acquired. These acquisitions are to be kept in green albums and boxes, although much has yet to be mounted. There is probably enough material to fill another 2,000 albums or boxes. King George V was not the only head of state to be involved in stamp design. In the United States, President Franklin Roosevelt was an avid philatelist. |
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 When Franklin Roosevelt was little more than eight years old in 1890, his parents introduced him to philately. With the curiosity of an explorer that was with him all the days of his life, FDR immersed himself in the hobby and built a vast collection that, by the time he became President, numbered scores of albums for practically every country of the world.
Since the Roosevelt family of the 1800's was deeply involved in shipping and trading with countries as far away as China and India, the young Roosevelt was always pestering his relatives to send him mail---and bring him stamps---from around the world. |
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| No country was left out, no type of stamp was eliminated from his interests. He loved them all. And when he went away to prep school, and later Harvard University, he took his stamp collection with him. In fact, for the rest of his life, no matter where FDR traveled, his collection went with him.
FDR's fame as a stamp collector spread throughout the world and, during his presidency, the hobby rose to become the world's most popular pastime. And as president he either designed or held influence over every stamp issued by the United States. As the war was winding down, Roosevelt---exhausted from his recent trip to Yalta---traveled to his retreat at the Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia. On the morning of April 12, 1945, he approved the design for the new "Toward United Nations" commemorative stamp and then spent a quiet hour with his collection. Shortly thereafter, while posing for a portrait, Franklin Roosevelt collapsed and died from a massive cerebral hemmorhage. It is fitting that this lifelong stamp collector was pursuing his great love of stamps only moments before he passed into history. Today, philatelists of all walks of life salute FDR as the premier American philatelist of all time. |
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