Romfilatelia introduces into circulation, on Wednesday, May 29th, this year, a new postage stamps issue entitled Promoters of the Romanian Education System. The Golescu Family. The philatelic issue consists of two postage stamps, a perforated souvenir sheet and a First Day Cover.
An old family of Romanian boyars, having ancestry up to the families of the first rulers of the Romanian Country, the Golescu family was present throughout the 19th century, as politicians, statesmen and scholars, active participants in the 1848 Revolution.
The postage stamp, with the face value of Lei 6, depicts the portrait of the scholar Dinicu Golescu (1777-1830), known in particular for his writing Notes of My Journey Made in 1824, 1825, 1826 (Romanian: Însemnare a călătoriei mele făcută în anul 1824, 1825, 1826), printed in 1826 in Buda, at the author’s expense. A fervent promoter of education in the Romanian language, he founded the so-called “Public Free School” (Romanian: Școala slobodă obștească), to which courses and textbooks were free and where boys and girls had access, regardless of their social rank. For a short period, Ion Heliade Rădulescu was a teacher at this school.
The postage stamp, with the face value of Lei 25, illustrates the portrait of Dinicu Golescu’s elder brother, Iordache Golescu (1768-1848), one of the most active scholars and statesmen of the Romanian Country in the first half of the 19th century. A devoted protector of education in the Romanian language, he founded schools, developing fundamental tools for the educational process (grammars, dictionaries). He was a decision maker for the establishment of the Higher School of St. Sava and brought Gheorghe Lazăr to its direction. He prepared a planiglobe (a map of the world) printed in Vienna. This precious geographical item includes a map of Wallachia.
The postage stamp of the philatelic souvenir sheet, with the face value of Lei 33, reproduces the portrait of the great ban Radu Golescu (1746-1818), father of Dinicu and Iordache. A great Enlightenment man, his main desire was “to uplift the people through culture and good governance”. He established on his estate in Golești a so-called “beginner school” which operated until 1821, being reopened later in 1826 by his son Dinicu under the mentioned name of “Golești Public Free School” (Romanian: Școala slobodă obștească de la Golești). Radu Golescu was a great philanthropist, founder of the Filantropia Hospital in Bucharest and founder of the “Poorhouse” in Golești, also known as the “bolniță” (where poor people were treated).
The “first day” cover depicts the image of the main entrance to the Golești Museum (established by decree signed on the 7th of June 1939, by King Carol I, under the name of Dinicu Golescu Museum.
Above the entrance there is a tower known as “Tudor Vladimirescu’s Tower”, reminding us of his stay in Golești in 1821. The bust of Dinicu Golescu and the facsimile of Dinicu Golescu’s 1826 Appeal for the School of Golești complete the graphic ensemble depicted on the cover.
Romfilatelia thanks the representatives of the Golești Museum and of the Argeș County Council for the documentary and photographic support granted to the development of this postage stamps issue.
