Greenland 1964 - Samuel Petrus Kleinschmidt

A keen student of languages, Samuel Petrus Kleinschmidt, born 27 February 1814, studied  Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Dutch, French, and English, all the while retaining his childhood languages, Danish, German, and Greenlandic. Oh, and in his copious spare time, he also translated parts of the Bible into Greenlandic!

Born of humble beginnings in the rectory of Lichtenau in southern Greenland to missionary parents, Samuel travelled to Saxony in Germany in his youth where he studied before taking an apprenticeship at a pharmacy. In 1837 he began working as a teacher. Perhaps the pharmaceutical business wasn't his style. In 1841 he returned home to Greenland and began giving church sermons in plain, everyday Greenlandic language. Samuel spent the rest of his days in Greenland, preaching, and researching and writing about language. In fact, he invented the orthography (the conventional spelling system of a language) used for writing Greenlandic - a system utilised up until 1973 when it was revised. Samuel Petrus Kleinschmidt died 8 February 1886.

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On 26 November 1964 Greenland issued a stamp commemorating the life's work of Samuel Petrus Kleinschmidt. The stamp was engraved by Czeslaw Slania. This is a lovely engraving. Samuel's eye contain so much passion, drive and focus. And, of course, that awesome beard!

Until next time...

I Interview... Colin from England

It has been a while since my last Slania Crazy! interview. Time for another, methinks. A loyal follower of my blog, named Colin, graciously volunteered some of his time to share with us his thoughts  on the master engraver. Enjoy!

Slania Crazy!: Thank you very much for participating in my "I Interview..." series.

Colin: Glad to take part.

Q: When did you start collecting Slania stamps?

A: I started back in 2002.

Q: What drew you to start collecting him?

A: When I saw his magnificent 1000th stamp  for Sweden

Q: What is your favourite Slania stamp, and why is it your favourite?

A: His 1000th stamp also happens to be my favourite. And I have visited Drottningholm Palace (Ed If you like you can check out my blog post on this amazing stamp HERE.

Q: Where do you usually get your Slania stamps?

A: Several places. Ebay, fellow collectors, and Auctions for the scarce ones in my Slania Collection, which if successful, I remove the items I want and sell the remainder.

Q: What references do you like using? Which is your favourite?

A: http://www.czeslawslania.org/ The images are excellent, and has more images than http://www.slaniastamps-heindorffhus.com/

Q: Do you remember what your first Slania stamp was?

A: Again, it was Slania's famous 1000th stamp  for Sweden

Q: Do you collect any other engravers?

A: No, my aim is to get as complete a collection of Slania that I can.

Q: What are your other stamp specialisms?

A: Gibraltar, Malta, and The Philatelic Congress of GB

Q: How do you store your Slania stamps?

A: I store them on Hagner/Prinz stock cards until I write them up for display to philatelic societies

Q: Do you have any collecting tips to share?

A: Buy MNH if possible, as they will retain value better and are better for display. When I write up a page for display I try to include a high resolution scan 1200dpi (4 x normal size) of the best stamp on the page, which highlights Slania’s engraving skills.

I'd like to thank Colin again for taking part in the interview.

Until next time...

Greenland 1963 - Niels Bohr

Niels Henrik David Bohr was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 7 October 1885 into an academically-inclined family. In fact, it was his father, a Physiology professor at the University of Copenhagen, who coaxed Bohr toward a life of science. In 1903 Bohr enrolled to study at Copenhagen University. He majored in physics, a field very much in its infancy in Denmark at the time. Indeed, the university only had one physics professor, Christian Christiansen, He also studied maths and philosophy. Bohr excelled in his studies and went on to earn a doctorate in physics.

After a trip to England and Scotland with his new bride, he returned to take up a position at the University of Copenhagen. Then his career really took off. Bohr's career and his research into Theoretical Physics is extensive and beyond the scope of this blog. So a very brief highlights package should suffice.

His first career highlight was in 1913 when he devised the Bohr Model, an early model of a hydrogen atom. In 1920 he founded the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of Copenhagen, now known as the Niels Bohr Institute. Then in 1922 when he won the Nobel Prize in Physics. In his research, Bohr predicted the existence of a new zirconium-like element, which was named hafnium, after the Latin name for Copenhagen, where it was discovered. Later, the element bohrium was named after him.

During the 1930s, Bohr's humanitarian efforts helped rescue many people from Nazi-occupied Denmark. Then in 1943 Bohr became a direct target of the Nazis after he had a meeting with Heisenberg, the head of the German nuclear weapon project. After hearing that the Germans wanted to capture him, Bohr fled to Sweden, and then to Britain, where he became entangled in the British element of the Manhattan Project.

After the war his research focused on the study of nuclear energy for the betterment of humankind as opposed to its obliteration. He became one of the founding members of CERN, the largest particle physics laboratory in the world, located in Geneva, Switzerland. CERN is an acronym for Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Organisation for nuclear research).  CERN is home to the LHC or Large Hadron Collider, a giant particle accelerator tunnel with a circumference of 27 km. Following on from his involvement with CERN, Bohr went on to be the first chairman of the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics in 1957. Five years later on 18 November 1962 Niels Henrik David Bohr died at the age of 77 in Copenhagen.

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On 21 November 1963 Greenland issued a single-design set of two stamps honouring Niels Bohr. The design was engraved by Czeslaw Slania. It is worth noting that this set was also issued in Bohr's homeland of Denmark on the same day. This stunning design features a portrait of Bohr next to the equation for the Bohr Model of electron transition.

Until next time...

Faroe Islands 1985 - Contemporary Paintings (Part 1)

Thomas Arge was born 1942 in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. Initially he trained to be a carpenter. But he soon began taking art courses in the newly established school of painting in Tórshavn, while plying his trade as a carpenter. Arge seemed to have a natural talent for art. As early as 1962 at just 20 years of age his art debuted at the annual Olai exhibition in Tórshavn. Then in 1964 he was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, where he had the Danish modernist Richard Mortensen as a professor. Over the years Arge developed a mastery of abstract expressionist art. A large amount of his art features the theme of nature.

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On 3 June 1985 Faroe Islands issued a set of three stamps celebrating contemporary Faroese artists. Each stamp features the work of a particular artist. Czeslaw Slania was given the challenging task of reproducing these artworks One of these stamps features a piece of art by Thioma Arge, titled Garden in Hoyvik. The stamp is part engraving and part lithography.

The original artwork which this lovely stamp replicates can be found in the National Faroese gallery.The original gallery was built in 1970. But now the collection, consisting some 2600 pieces, is housed in  a lovely new building, designed to resemble a traditional Faroese boathouse.

Until next time...