“There remains something constant; great deeds remain, those that are enduring.”
Two hundred years ago, on 6 September, Mihail Kogalniceanu, leader of the culture and history of Modern Romania, was born. As it was natural, Romfilatelia dedicates to the great scholar a postage stamp issue entitled Mihail Kogalniceanu, 200 years since his birth, recognizing and bringing to the attention of the public the undisputed role of one of the makers of Modern Romania.
Romfilatelia introduces into circulation the Mihail Kogalniceanu, 200 YEARS SINCE HIS BIRTH anniversary postage stamp issue, on Wednesday, september 6 th, in its own shops network in Bucharest, Bacau, Brasov, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi and Timisoara and online on https://romfilatelia.ro/store/
The stamp with the face value of 4.50 lei graphically associates the newspaper Steaua Dunarii, the main press body of the union movement, along with the portrait of the one who was to be found by founder and editor Mihail Kogalniceanu.
A second portrait of the great man Kogalniceanu, which is in the patrimony of the Bucharest Museum, is represented on the stamp with the face value of Lei 8 .
First rank personality of the nineteenth century, Mihail Kogalniceanu is one of the creators of Modern Romania. His biography is entwined with the very history of this century.
Kagălniceanu’s political and diplomatic work can be ordered through the chronology of the essential moments in which he was deployed: the leader of the 1948 Movement, spokesperson for the Movement’s generation, developer of an action program for the achievement of the ideals of his time. Kogalniceanu represents a leading character of the Unionist propaganda and the main accomplisher (together with Al. I. Cuza) of the 1859 Union.
In March 1840, Mihail Kogalniceanu opened a publishing house and his own printing house which played an important role in the development of national culture and literature. Here he printed most of the periodical publications he founded, including Literary Dacia. We must add to these, the characterization of George Calinescu, who considers that “Kogalniceanu’s most valuable gift is the untiring criticism, in a constructive, ardent form, and without sterile sarcasm”.
On November 10, 1852, he married Ecaterina Jora (1827-1907) in Iasi. Also this year, the Chronicles of the Land of Moldavia was published in three volumes. Three years later, he founded, in Iasi, the Danube Star newspaper.
After electing Alexandru Ioan Cuza as the ruler of the United Principalities, Kogalniceanu was elected as a member of the Central Commission, which had the obligation to draft a common law for the two Principalities (1859 – 1860). Between 1860 and 1861, Kogalniceanu was the head of Moldavia’s government. He delivered in Parliament his famous speech on the Allotment of peasants. He tirelessly militated for the formation of a single government and the election of a single capital for the state that will bear the name of Romania, from 1862. Starting with 1863, Kogalniceanu holds important positions in the leadership of the state: prime minister, interior minister and foreign minister. In the Assembly of Deputies of May 9, 1877, Kogalniceanu proclaimed the Romanian state independence.
Elected on May 29, 1868 as a member of the Academic Society (the Romanian Academy), Kogalniceanu delivers his last speech in this high forum on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.
He positioned himself as a brilliant diplomat for the achievement and recognition of the 1877 State Independence. As a creative genius, Kogalniceanu harmoniously combined culture with politics, a fact that led the great Nicolae Iorga to consider him “the greatest cultural and political leader of the Modern Age”.
This postage stamp issue is completed by a First day cover and as composition there were used a sheet of 32 stamps, the minisheet of 5 stamps and label.
Romfilatelia thanks the National Museum of Romanian Literature, the Bucharest Municipality Museum, the “Mihail Kogalniceanu” Memorial Museum from the National Museum Complex Moldavia Iasi and the National Archives Iasi County Service for the documentary support granted in the creation of this postage stamp issue.
For further information, please contact the Public Relation Office:
Tel: 021 / 337 24 42
anamaria.anton@romfilatelia.ro
