Magyar Posta is issuing a special miniature sheet to mark the Sándor Petőfi Memorial Year, which is being held in Hungary in the school year 2022/23 to coincide with the bicentenary of the poet’s birth. Magyar Posta devotes the proceeds of the surcharge on two stamps of the miniature sheet totalling HUF 150 to supporting youth stamp collecting. Ten thousand copies of the commemorative miniature sheet of four stamps designed by the graphic artist Imre Benedek were produced by ANY Security Printing Company. The new issue will be available at first day post offices and Filaposta in Hungary from 4 March 2022, but may also be ordered from Magyar Posta’s online store.
Sándor Petőfi was born in Kiskőrös on 1 January 1823. He was a poet, revolutionary, national hero, and one of the best known and most prominent figures in Hungarian literature. Nearly all Hungarians are familiar with his works. His narrative poem John the Valiant has been the subject of musical dramas, puppet shows, cartoons and even a rock opera. His best-known poem is the National Song, which, still today, is a powerful message of the revolution on 15 March 1848 and an outstanding work of patriotic Hungarian poetry. His memory is preserved in Hungary and areas of the Carpathian Basin with Hungarian communities by several museums and memorial houses, as well as countless statues, plaques and street names.
The stamps of the miniature sheet feature four illustrations of John the Valiant by Álmos Jaschik. A lithograph of Sándor Petőfi by Miklós Barabás adorns the frame of the miniature sheet, which is complemented by the logo celebrating the bicentenary. The commemorative first day cover for the miniature sheet bears a daguerreotype of Sándor Petőfi by Gábor Egressy. The design of the special postmark features Sándor Petőfi’s signature.
