On March 10, 2025 the Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic puts into circulation a series of 2024 Kyrgyz Express Post postage stamps and a souvenir sheet: "The Anniversaries of Great Personalities".
The year 2024 marks anniversaries of some outstanding personalities who have made invaluable contributions to the development of global science and culture, in particular: 700th death anniversary of Marco Polo, 200th birth anniversary of Bedřich Smetana, 150th birth anniversary of Guglielmo Marconi, 100th birth anniversary of Bulat Okudzhava and 225th birth anniversary of Alexander Pushkin. These anniversaries are commemorated by the new issue of Kyrgyz Express Post, which includes four postage stamps and one souvenir sheet.
Marco Polo (1254 - 1324) was a Venetian merchant and explorer who undertook one of the earliest European journeys to Asia. He described his journey in "Book of the Marvels of the World", which had a great influence on the development of cartography, navigation and further exploration of the Asian continent by Europeans. Marco Polo spent seventeen years in China. It was thanks to Marco Polo that a wide circle of Europeans learned about paper money, the sago palm, black stones that burn, as well as typical crafts and culinary traditions of various Chinese regions.
On his way to China, Marco Polo visited the regions of Central Asia. The route of his journey probably passed through the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan.
Bedřich Smetana (1824 - 1884) was a Czech composer, pianist and conductor, founder of the Czech national school of music. He was the first composer to use Czech folk tales and motifs in his compositions. Smetana was the first to create an opera entirely written in the Czech language.
Smetana's work had a huge impact on Czech composers of subsequent generations. Bedřich Smetana's symphonic poem "Vltava" from the cycle "Má vlast" became the unofficial Czech national anthem.
The musical works of Bedřich Smetana are performed on all the most prestigious stages of the world. They are popular among both professional musicians and ordinary lovers of classical music in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Guglielmo Marconi (1874 - 1937) was an Italian scientist and inventor in the field of radio engineering. Marconi's name is associated with the emergence and development of wireless telegraphy, as well as the beginning of the practical application of radio communication.
In 1909, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution to the invention and development of wireless telegraphy. In 1912, he became known worldwide thanks to the fact that the sinking liner "Titanic" was equipped with Marconi's radiotelegraph, and distress signals were received by the steamship "Carpathia", which hurried to the aid of those in distress.
In addition to his scientific and inventive activities, Guglielmo Marconi also proved himself to be a successful entrepreneur and a sophisticated politician and diplomat.
Bulat Okudzhava (1924 - 1997) was a Russian poet, prose writer, teacher, screenwriter, composer and performer of his own songs. Okudzhava was one of the most famous and popular representatives of the genre of bard music. He composed approximately 200 songs that enjoyed well-deserved fame throughout the former USSR, including Kyrgyzstan.
Literary works of Bulat Okudzhava have been translated into many languages and published in numerous countries around the world. Bulat Okudzhava was a participant in World War II (Eastern Front) and was awarded government awards for his military merits.
The Russian Federation has established the Bulat Okudzhava Prize, awarded to poets and performers of bard songs.
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837) was an outstanding Russian poet, playwright, prose writer, literary critic, historian, publicist and theorist of literature. He is one of the main founders of the modern Russian literary language. Being a pioneer in the use of colloquial speech in his works, Alexander Pushkin created a narrative style that combined drama, romance and satire. Pushkin was also a professional writer: he was the first in Russia to make a living from literary work.
Pushkin's work had a significant impact on subsequent Russian writers - Dostoevsky, Gogol, Tyutchev, Tolstoy, as well as on Russian composers Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky.
His commitment to freedom and independence of views often brought him into conflict with the Tsarist authorities. Often the writer had to make forced compromises with the ruling elites.
Pushkin's works are a treasure of world culture, they are studied in educational institutions in many countries, including Kyrgyzstan. Translations of Alexander Pushkin's works into the Kyrgyz language are very popular in the Kyrgyz Republic.
The KEP souvenir sheet features Nikolai Ge’s painting "Alexander Pushkin in the village Mihaylovskoye" (1893). The First Day Cover shows a reproduction of Valentin Serov’s "Pushkin in the Village" (1899) and the postcard for the maximum card depicts a reproduction of Pyotr Sokolov’s "Portrait of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin" (1836). Kyrgyz Express Post expresses its gratitude to The National Pushkin Museum for providing electronic copies of these artworks.
For this series, KEP also issues five postcards, which are used to realize five maximum cards.
