LITHUANIA, 2004, the 425th anniversary of the University
of Vilnius, Scott 765
featuring King Stephen Bathory, its traditional founder, and Father Piotr
Skarga, SJ, its first rector.
The image seems based on an
old portrayal, while the labels below are based on
Skarga's Sermon
by Jan Matejko
Polish cinderellas, 1912 and 1982/9
These are not stamps properly so called, but labels. The first label (left) was issued in 1912 by the TSL, the Towarzystwo Szkol Ludowych or the Society of Peasant Schools, a patriotic educational society in Galicia (Austrian Poland) and western Ukraine, whose publications emphasized Polish history, culture and patriotism in the face of Austrian authorities. The next two labels (right) were issued in large quantities between 1982 and 1989 to raise money for Solidarity, and as a protest against martial law which had been declared by the Communist authorities in Poland. The underground members who issued the stamps risked imprisonment without trial if caught. Very few were used as labels on covers sent through the mail.
Piotr Skarga was born at Grojec near Warsaw, a member of the noble Paweski family. Skaga, his pseudonym meaning accusation, quickly replaced his family name. He is one of the great literary and religious figures of his time, especially in Poland, a preacher, missionary, reformer, writer and popular theologian, dedicated to promoting Church unity, individual and national morality and justice, care for the sick, the poor, the defenseless. His efforts contributed in great part to the return of the Ruthenians to union with Rome. He was educated at Grojec, Cracow and in Italy, and was ordained before entering the Jesuits. He became the first rector of the University of Vilnius, and while there wrote his Lives of the Saints, one of the most widely read books in Poland. King Sigismund III appointed him court preacher in 1588, and he used his pulpit frequently to address the legislators. He left court just a few months before his death. More
POLAND, 1936, the 4th centenary of the birth of Skarga
1994, the 75th anniversary of a school named for him