FOCUS ON PHILATELY

by Ingert Kuzych

Another banner year in Ukrainian philately

Ukraine continues to produce beautiful and noteworthy stamps to delight postal customers and collectors alike. The production firm Marka Ukrainy now issues stamps in a process much like that of other countries. Subjects to be commemorated are reviewed and approved by a special committee, only pre-set quantities are printed, and appropriate first-day cancellations and first-day covers now are made available for most stamp releases.

Gone are the days of only sporadic stamp issuance, or multiple stamp issues all being released at the same time. Today, the process is a much more orderly and streamlined.

Put to rest also is the phobia of allowing religious subjects on stamps. No less than nine issues last year depicted a religious topic in one form or another. In total, 58 Ukrainian stamps appeared in 2001 - 20 of which were part of seven souvenir sheets. This quantity is not much different from the yearly totals of other European countries.

The souvenir sheet format remains very popular and allows Ukrainian designers a larger field on which to display their artwork. A souvenir sheet has now emerged as the winner for best philatelic design four years in a row. It will be interesting to see if the trend continues in this year's balloting for the Narbut Prize.

The prize is named after Heorhiy Narbut, Ukraine's famous graphic artist of the early 20th century, who designed some of Ukraine's first stamps and banknotes. Instituted by yours truly in 1992, the year Ukraine resumed stamp production, the monetary prize has been awarded annually and is now regarded as the premier recognition for Ukraine's philatelic designers.

The following list will briefly describe (chronologically) all of the philatelic releases from 2001. It is accompanied by a form allowing readers to indicate and submit their selections for the best stamp design. The ballot may be photocopied if more than one member of a household wishes to vote. Electronic balloting is also available and is described at the end of this article.

All votes received are tabulated and combined with votes from Ukraine. The Prize winner is usually announced in September. Your name will not be disclosed and is requested simply to prevent multiple voting. Anyone can vote for the Narbut Prize. You do not need to be a stamp collector, artist, or even Ukrainian, for that matter.

No., Description

• 357: Ukraine's first stamp of last year was a religious one. Honored on the 350th anniversary of his birth was St. Dmytrii of Rostov (1651-1709), a major figure in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and Russia. He studied at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and later served as metropolitan of Rostov. Dmytrii published a number of important works, including a monumental collection of saints' lives. He was himself sainted in the Orthodox Church in 1757.
  
  
• 358: Many countries have issued "love" stamps (for weddings and special occasions), but Ukraine's St. Valentine's Day stamp is the first I have ever encountered for this holiday. Since the Ukrainian Orthodox and Ukrainian Greek-Catholic church calendars do not have a day set aside for this saint, Marka Ukrainy issued this stamp without ever explicitly mentioning St. Valentine!
  
  
• 359: The first souvenir sheet of the year was a spectacular issue honoring the greatest of the rulers of the medieval Galician-Volynian Kingdom, Danylo Romanovych (1201-1264). This colorful sheet depicts him wearing a crown and armor and riding on a white charger. The crown stands out on the stamp since it is embossed with gold foil. Danylo, after a prolonged struggle, was able to unite western Ukrainian lands and to found a number of cities, including Kholm (1237) and Lviv (1256), which is depicted on the stamp).
  
  
• 360-361: Last year, the ongoing Hetmans of Ukraine series presented a couple of lesser-known 17th century figures, Yurii Khmelnytsky (1641-1685) and Mykhailo Khanenko (ca. 1620-1650).
  
  
• 362: Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876 and this useful invention began to appear in Ukraine during the 1880s. The 125th anniversary of the invention was commemorated on this issue.
  
  
• 363-365: "The World Through Children's Eyes" was the name of a stamp series showing children's drawings: 10-kopiyky value, "Self Portrait"; 30 k, "My Native Land"; and 40 k, "My Friends."
  
  
• 366-371: On April 1 Ukraine introduced six stamps of an extraordinary new definitive series. Called standard stamps in Ukrainian, these issues are printed and reprinted in the millions for everyday use over several years. (Commemorative issues, in contrast, are produced in much smaller quantities of tens of thousands or a few hundred thousand and stay in circulation only for a period of months.) The new definitives (the first to depict the trident) were assigned letter "values" corresponding to certain postal rates. Shown on the stamps were various plants especially beloved in Ukraine. The "D" stamp (domestic rate), reproduced the popular marigolds; the "E" stamp (rate to CIS countries) displayed a sunflower; the "Zh" stamp (international surface rate) depicted the red berries of the guelder rose ("chervona kalyna"); the "Ye" stamp (international air mail rate) presented several ears of wheat; the "V" stamp (valued at 10 kopiyky) showed hollyhock blossoms; and the "R" stamp (registered international letter rate) boldly displayed the trident over an image representing Ukraine's flag colors, a blue sky over a field of grain.
  
  
• 372-374: The Ukrainian foIk tales of "Sister Vixen and Brother Wolf," "The Mitten" and "Sirko the Dog" appeared on this set of stamps that greatly appealed to youngsters.
  
  
• 375-376: Ukraine's maritime heritage was recalled in an ongoing Shipbuilding Series that depicted two 120-cannon battleships of the 19th century: the Twelve Apostles (1841) and the Three Saints (1838).
  
  
• 377-378: The Europa theme for stamps in 2001 was "Water and Natural Resources." Ukraine's lovely contribution to this topic was a two-stamp set with a seabed view showing various aquatic creatures.
  
  
• 379: The next religious stamp of the year honored the Feast of the Holy Trinity (Pentecost) also known as the Green Holidays (Zeleni Sviata), since in Ukraine most doorways are decorated with green branches on this day.
  
  
• 380-385: In ancient times, Ukraine was often referred to as a land of wax and honey. The splendid souvenir sheet depicting beekeeping through the centuries was described in the March "Focus on Philately."
  
  
• 386: One of the holiest sites in Orthodoxy is the Kyivan Caves Monastery, founded 950 years ago. This richly designed souvenir sheet (in various shades of blue) highlights the Uspenskyi (Assumption) Cathedral, part of the monastery complex.
  
  
• 387: Pope John-Paul II's historic visit to Ukraine from June 25 to 27, 2001, did not go unrecognized philatelically. Presi-dent Leonid Kuchma personally ordered that this stamp be prepared.
  
  
• 388, 397-399: Another ongoing stamp series is "Regions of Ukraine." Each stamp shows several scenes from the oblast (province) being honored, the oblast coat of arms and the oblast's location on a map of Ukraine. In 2001, the Zakarpattia, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Kirovohrad oblasts were singled out for recognition.
  
  
• 389-391: "Treasures of Ukrainian Museums" is another of Ukraine's art stamp series. The latest release honored the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko Museum of Arts in Kyiv. Shown on the souvenir sheet are three ancient icons from the sixth and seventh centuries, so this issue, too, had religious connections.
  
  
• 392-393: Endangered Ukrainian Fauna as listed in the Red Book of threatened species is part of a continuing series. In 2001, the tiny jerboa, a three-toed rodent, and the red kite, a type of raptor, were depicted.
  
  
• 394: A new musical-topic stamp honored Dmytro Bortnianskyi (1751-1825), the great composer and conductor. His choral compositions for liturgies remain popular to this day.
  
  
• 395: Ukrainians are as crazy about soccer as any other European country, so it was only a matter of time before a stamp on "Ukrainian football" appeared.
  
  
• 396: On August 24, 2001, Ukraine celebrated 10 years of independence by releasing a souvenir sheet showing events from the historic day exactly a decade earlier - including the raising of the blue-and-yellow flag over the parliament building for the first time.
  
  
• 400: Ukraine tries to hold a national Philatelic Exhibition every year (or at least every other year). Last year's show was held in Dnipropetrovsk and commemorated with this special stamp issue.
  
  
• 401: The United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Nations was marked by this stamp featuring a unity design by a Slovenian youngster. Stamps of many other countries displayed this same image.
  
  
• 402-403: A souvenir sheet depicting fauna of the Black Sea also tied in nicely with the Europa theme (see stamps 377-378).
  
  
• 404: Three colorful year-end holiday stamps brightened domestic mails. A Christmas stamp showed five costumed carolers.
  
  
• 405: A St. Nicholas issue depicted the saint sliding a gift under the pillow of a sleeping child.
  
  
• 406: The Happy New Year stamp presented children in various costumes dancing around a beautifully decorated Christ-mas tree.
  
  
• 407-408: A joint issue with the republic of Georgia honored prominent poets of both countries: Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861) of Ukraine and Akakii Tsereteli (1840-1915) of Georgia. Lines of verse on both stamps are excepts from Shevchenko's poem "The Caucasus." The Shevchenko stamp on the left shows the text in Cyrillic script; the stamp verse on the right is written in Georgian as translated by Tsereteli.
  
  
• 409-414: The final stamp issues of the year featured Ukrainian folk costumes on both stamps and in a souvenir sheet format. Two different depictions of clothing from three regions of Ukraine were presented. The first scenes were of the Kyiv region and showed women dressed up for the Green Holidays (see stamp 379 above) and a couple bundled up for the Christmas holidays. The Chernihiv region shows a trio of musicians and a betrothed couple. The Poltava region features a winter scene with folk gathered for the blessing of the waters at Epiphany (Yordan). A mid-summer vignette has young girls casting flower wreaths into a stream as part of the divination rituals for the festival of Ivan Kupalo.

* * *

This year participation in Narbut Prize voting is easier than ever. All the philatelic issues may be viewed in color on Bohdan Hrynyshyn's Ukrainian Electronic Stamp Album: www.ukrainianphilately.info/narbut.htm. An accompanying ballot allows for voting directly from this site.

Further information about Ukrainian philately and about previous winners of the Narbut Prize may be found on the website of the Ukrainian Philatelic and Numismatic Society (UPNS): www.upns.org. Click on "Related Sites" to find out where stamps may be ordered.

Ingert Kuzych may be contacted at P.O. Box 3, Springfield VA 22150, or via his e-mail address: ingert@starpower.net.

NARBUT PRIZE BALLOT

Dear Mr. Spiwak:

My selection for this year's Narbut Prize, as the best philatelic design of 2001, is:

No. _________ Title _________________________________________________________

Sincerely, Mr.(s.) ____________________________________________________________

Mail this ballot to:
Mr. Paul Spiwak
42 Irving Rd.
New Hartford, NY 13413

Or send an e-mail with the stamp/souvenir sheet number and name to pbspiwak@yahoo.com.
Copies of this ballot are acceptable if more than one member of a household wishes to vote.
One ballot per person, please.
Deadline for submitting votes is August 15, 2002.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 5, 2002, No. 18, Vol. LXX

| Home Page |