80th Anniversary Of the Paris Commune.

In a previous article on Stamp Crazy and re-published on this Blog, I briefly discussed the first stamp that Czeslaw Slania engraved all by himself - the 80th Anniversary of the Paris Commune, issued  24 March 1951. Since I wrote that article I have created this Blog dedicated entirely to my Slania collecting journey so I thought it might be interesting to revisit that stamp in more detail. 

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The Paris Commune was a Socialist Revolution that took over Paris from the 18 March to 28 May 1871. During this revolution the city was controlled by the troops of the National Guard. General Jaroslaw Dabroski was one of the leaders of the National Guard. The Commune was eventually quashed after an intense week long battle known to the French as "La semaine sanglante" (The Bloody Week). Bloody Week began on 21 May and continued until the 28 May. During this time the French army slowly regained the city. Since this Blog isn't historically related my description of the Commune has been very brief. For in-depth information on the Paris Commune of 1871 click HERE

General Dabrowski was wounded in battle on 21 May and he eventually succumbed to his wounds and died two days later. During the fighting Dabrowski was falsely accused by others in the National Guard of being a traitor and in cahoots with the French army, which by this point had reclaimed a large portion of the city. It s said his last words were:

"Do they still say I was a traitor?"

 The stamp depicts battle being waged in the streets of Paris. The detail in the stamp is quite striking.

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I have read that it is believed that the portrait on the stamp is actually not that of the famous general Dabrowski at all. Instead, it is said that the portrait is of the famous composer and pianist, Henryk Dabrowski. Despite my best researching efforts I have not been able to find any clues as to where this claim came from. All I can find are quotes like: "it is said that the portrait is wrong..." I'm not saying that I don't believe it, It's just that I'd like to know where the idea came from. Was it Slania himself who wrote or perhaps mentioned in an interview that a mistake was made? I don't know. But I'd love to find out.

I have found a few other images of General Dabrowski which I have compared with the stamp, and the likeness is close.

Portrait of General Jaroslaw Dabrowski

I have still been unable to find any images or drawings of the composer Henryk Dabrowski whose portrait is supposed to be on the stamp. So, at the moment, a comparison with the portrait on the stamp is impossible. I must say however that all the images of General Dabrowski show a youngish man while the portrait on the stamp is that of an older gentleman. Indeed, Jaroslaw Dabrowski died at the age of 34.

Is this the portrait of a 34 year old man?

Hmm, probably not. But there are two things I'd really like to know:

1. Where is the document that states the portrait engraving was a mistake?
2. What did Henryk Dabrowski look like?

If anyone out there has any information about this, I'd love to hear from you.

Stay Slania Crazy!