To mark the semicentennial of the Nobel Prize awarded to the genius of cell biology, Romfilatelia has included in its 2024 Editorial Plan the postage stamps issue “George Emil Palade, Nobel Prize. 50 years”. The issue, consisting of 1 stamp, 1 perforated souvenir sheet, and 1 First Day Cover, will be introduced into circulation on Tuesday, November 19th, the anniversary date of the Romanian-born scientist.
The issue includes (the stamp with the face value of Lei 13 and the stamp of the perforated souvenir sheet Lei 33) the following elements: the scientist’s portrait, the Nobel Prize laureate medal, a work instrument (electron microscope), and the logo of the semicentennial of the Nobel Prize awarded to George Emil Palade.
The Nobel Prizes were established according to the provisions of the will of the Swede Alfred Nobel (1833–1896), the inventor of dynamite (1867).
The institutions that award these prizes are: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, and Economics), the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm (Physiology or Medicine), the Swedish Academy (Literature), and the Committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament (Peace Prize).
The first Nobel Prizes were awarded on December 10th, 1901. They consist of: a medal, a diploma, and an amount initially set at 40,000 USD.
Alfred Bernhard Nobel was a chemist, inventor, and businessman. By the age of 17, he spoke Swedish, Russian, French, English, and German fluently. In Paris, he worked in a laboratory where he met the Italian Ascanio Sobrero, the inventor of nitroglycerin. Building on this explosive, which was highly dangerous to handle, he created dynamite (a mixture of nitroglycerin and diatomaceous earth) in 1867.
The invention became a profitable business due to its use in mining and stone quarries. However, the use of explosives quickly extended to military weapons (mines, grenades, shells, etc.), causing numerous casualties and destruction in war conflicts. The inventor became known worldwide as the “merchant of death”.
Out of a desire to morally mitigate the consequences of his invention, originally intended for peaceful activities, he left, through a testamentary provision, 214 million dollars for a foundation to manage the awarding of five annual prizes “to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humanity”.
Among the Nobel laureates, Romanian scientist George Emil Palade holds a place of honour, receiving the prize in 1974 for Physiology or Medicine as a result of major research on the functional organization of the cell. Other distinctions he received for his scientific work include the titles of honorary member of the Romanian Academy and member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. It is worth noting that he received the Nobel Prize together with Albert Claude and Christian de Duve.
Born in Iași in 1912, having completed his university studies in Romania, he left Romania in 1941 after marrying the daughter of industrialist Malaxa, and settled in the United States. He passed away in 2008.
He visited Romania several times, maintaining a permanent connection with the two directors of the Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology in Bucharest, Maia and Nicolae Simionescu.
He visited Romania several times, maintaining constant contact with the two founders of the Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology in Bucharest, Maya and Nicolae Simionescu. Academician Maya Simionescu is a biologist, a full member, and the president of the Biological Sciences Section of the Romanian Academy. Between 1970 and 1979, at the invitation of Professor George Emil Palade, she worked as a researcher and associate professor at the “Rockefeller” University - Department of Cell Biology, in New York, as well as at Yale University – School of Medicine in New Haven.
Romfilatelia thanks Academician Maya Simionescu, Director of the ‘Nicolae Simionescu’ Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology, within the Romanian Academy and the representatives of the ‘Grigore T. Popa’ University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași for their documentary support granted in the development of this issue of postage stamps.
