Europa - The Circus, Famous Clowns

The Europa 2002 theme is 'The Circus, famous clowns' featuring Joseph Grimaldi (1778-1837) the most celebrated of English clowns, born in London, son of an Italian father and English mother; Swiss clown 'Grock' Karl Adrien Wettach (1880-1959); 'Coco the clown' Nicholai Polakovs OBE (1900-1974) probably most famous clown in British history, originally a Jewish Latvian and Jean Hubert Charles Cairoli (1910-1980) born in Milan of French parents

Europa stamps have been issued annually since 1956. First sets representing the founding 6 members of the ECSC, European Coal and Steel Community, then by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) in 1959, (first stamps issued in 1960) and by PostEurop since 1993. Initially in 1956 a total of 13 stamps were issued with a common design from 6 different countries. A common theme of Peace and Welfare through agriculture and industry was used for 1957. The common design reappeared in 1958 and continued until 1973. From 1974 the designs reflect a common theme. The common design idea replaced the common theme in 1984, which was the CEPT 25th Anniversary (1959-84) and shows a symbolic bridge, said to represent Liaison, Exchange and Communication. With the split of posts and telecoms providers in most countries, CEPT is no longer responsible, but the postal authorities under the guidance of PostEurop continue the Europa tradition. From 1993 all the stamps have "Europa" inserted into the design in small print. (Source Wikipedia)