To mark the 150th anniversary of the Riga Latvian Society, Latvijas Pasts has released a new stamp and a cover. The first day cancellation of the stamp is scheduled to take place at the Riga Latvian Society House at 13 Merķeļa Street, Riga, from 9 AM to 6 PM on Friday, the 12th of October. The presentation of the stamp will be held in the same place at 1 PM, and it will see the participation of the representatives of the management of Latvijas Pasts and the Riga Latvian Society, as well as Lilija Dinere, the designer of the stamp.
The print run of the stamp dedicated to the Riga Latvian Society is 80,000 copies and its face value is € 0.54, which corresponds to the cost of sending a regular Class B letter within Latvia. The stamp depicts the portraits of all heads of the Riga Latvian Society from 1868 to 1940: Bernhards Dīriķis (from 1868 to 1870), Rihards Tomsons (from 1870 to 1871), Frīdrihs Veinbergs (from 1871 to 1872), Jānis Baumanis (from 1872 to 1875), Krišjānis Kalniņš (from 1875 to 1885), Frīdrihs Grosvalds (no 1886 to 1919), Andrejs Krastkalns (from 1919 to 1939) and Roberts Liepiņš (from 1939 to 1940).
The release of the stamp is accompanied by the issue of a special cover with a print run of 1,000 copies. It features a symbolic representation of the flag of the Riga Latvian Society House and its motto in the so-called old-style typeface: “Stand Strong. Work Confidently!” The new philatelic releases have been designed by the artist L. Dinere.
The Riga Latvian Society is the oldest officially established Latvian organisation: it was founded in 1868 and plays a prominent role in the history of the nation. By bringing together the intellectual and economic elite, the Society is inextricably linked with the development of Latvia’s education, culture and science and the initiation of Latvia’s sovereignty. The Riga Latvian Society is the originator of the Song Celebration tradition and the organiser of the first song festival.
