Leniniana

In philately, Leniniana is a topic for collecting postage stamps that tell about the life and story of Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) or people, places, etc. connected with him. The topic was common in the Soviet Union.[1][2]

Soviet stamp commemorating the 90th birth anniversary of Vladimir Lenin, 1960. Designed after a drawing of Nikolay Zhukov
Soviet stamp from the Lenin Mourning Issue, 1924. Designed by Ivan Dubasov

On the stamps of the USSR, Lenin was most frequently portrayed among the Bolsheviks. After 1923, his pictures were present on about 11% of all Soviet stamps. Lenin portrait first appeared on a stamp series that was the Mourning issue printed immediately after his death in 1924. Images of the first Soviet leader soon became ubiquitous.[3]

Because of various Lenin representations on postage stamps, it is hardly possible to categorise them all. Among different ways and roles in which Lenin was shown, there were:[3]

  • his simple portraits,
  • Lenin as a child and youth,
  • Lenin as the organiser of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union,
  • Lenin as the founder of the first socialist state,
  • Lenin as the organiser of the Party press,
  • Lenin as an inspirer of Soviet organisations and activities, etc.

There was even a stamp depicting Vladimir Lenin near a New Year's tree celebrating the holiday with children.[3]

See also

References
  1. [Anon.] (c. 1974). Leniniana: USSR Postage Stamps Commemorating V. I. Lenin. Moscow: Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga. 22 p. Archived from the original on 2015-05-23. Retrieved 2015-05-24. Among the numerous themes to which postage stamps are devoted in the USSR there is one that is particularly close to heart and dear to every Soviet collector. This theme is attracting ever more attention of philatelists in other countries as well. They are putting out catalogues and holding stamp exhibitions. This theme is the Leniniana.
  2. Владинец, Н. И.; Ильичёв, Л. И.; Левитас, И. Я.; Мазур, П. Ф.; Меркулов, И. Н.; Моросанов, И. А.; Мякота, Ю. К.; Панасян, С. А.; Рудников, Ю. М.; Слуцкий, М. Б.; Якобс, В. А. (1988). "Лениниана" [Leniniana]. In Владинец, Н. И.; Якобс, В. А. (eds.). Большой филателистический словарь [Great Philatelic Dictionary] (in Russian). Moscow: Радио и связь [Radio i svyaz']. 320 p. ISBN 5-256-00175-2. Archived from the original on 2015-05-23. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
  3. Grant, J. (July 1995). "The socialist construction of philately in the early Soviet era". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 37 (3): 476–493. doi:10.1017/S0010417500019770. ISSN 0010-4175. JSTOR 179216.

Further reading
  • Stal'baum, B. (1970). "Lenin, deti, filateliia" [Lenin, children, philately] (in Russian). Sovetskii Kollektsioner, 8: 6–9.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.