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The FEPA Board received nominations from Member Federations for the FEPA Medal for Exceptional Service to Philately in 2021, the FEPA Medal for Exceptional Philatelic Study and research, and the Certificate of Appreciation. We are delighted to announce the following awards and send congratulations to the winners.

A member of the Board of the French Federation since 1991, Bernard Jimenez has been involved in all national and international exhibitions in France including PHILEXFRANCE 1999 and Salon du Timbre 2012 and 2014, both with FEPA Recognition. He has been very active in international organised philately, first as Secretary of the FIP Thematic Commission and later as a Member of the Board of the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) since 2006 and its Vice-President since 2016. In these positions he constantly supported the interests of European philately. Furthermore, he was successfully active as liaison manager in several FEPA-patronised exhibitions with FIP recognition, most recently NOTOS 2021. Bernard has also served as FIP juror, Team leader in Postal History and Thematic, and jury secretary at FIP and FEPA exhibitions. For more than 40 years he has shared his knowledge of thematic philately and postal history in publications and has participated in many seminars all over the world.

FEPA Medal for Exceptional Service to Organised Philately (2006-2021)

 

The following nominations were received for this medal:

• Lars Engelbrecht (Denmark): Postal Stationery of Denmark – The Bi-Coloured Issue 1871-1905 (reviewed in FEPA News 39)
• Pedro Vaz Pereira (Portugal) : Os Correios Portugueses 1853-1900 (the Portuguese Post 1853-1900) (reviewed in FN 40)
• Guy Dutau (France) : La Désinfection du Courier en France dans les Pays Occupés (FN 39)
• Jürgen Naab (Germany): Thurn und Taxis, Vols 2 and 3
• Stefan Jakucewicz (Poland): Drukowanie Znacków Pocztowych (Printing of Postage Stamps)

As Lars Engelbrecht’s work had been nominated by the Danish Federation and would be excluded by time limits from consideration in any subsequent year, the Board agreed to accept the nomination on the grounds that it would be unreasonable to exclude the work because of Lars’ commitment to serve FEPA on its Board. To avoid any question of conflict of interest, Lars did not participate in the evaluation for this award.

The aim of the Award is to recognize exceptional achievements in philatelic study and research and a review of the nominations was carried out for the Board by a panel of experts: Bruno Crevato-Selvaggi, Wolfgang Maassen, José Ramón Moreno, Brian Trotter and Anthony Virvilis. Their advice confirmed that all the works nominated demonstrated research of the highest quality. In the end, having taken full account of the panel’s advice, the Board was unable to agree on an outright winner and decided to award the medal to Lars Engelbrecht and Pedro Vaz Pereira as joint winners. The runners-up will receive a Certificate.

FEPA Medal for Exceptional Philatelic Study and Research (2005-2021)

 

The KOSMOS Specialised Society, founded January 1971, is one of the oldest specialised groups in Europe aiming at promoting and supporting collecting focused on astronautics and space research. It brings together philatelists and others interested in space matters, covering both thematic philately and astrophilately. The Society publishes KOSMOS, a quarterly full-colour bulletin, and over the years has organised several national competitive philatelic exhibitions. KOSMOS members have also appeared on radio and television and organised professional lectures and activities for the general public. Members of the Society have successfully exhibited at philatelic exhibitions both at home and abroad.

The “Verein für Briefmarkenkunde Frankfurt“, one of the oldest societies in Germany, is devoted to the study of philately in all its aspects. Since its foundation in 1878 the society has continuously pursued its goals by running a huge library (currently about 25,000 units) and monthly talks to support all kinds of research activities. These are not limited to the study of stamps but include their history as well as postal documents, letters, postal routes and taxation. The seat of “Kunde” is Frankfurt am Main, the individual members are regionals as well as collectors from all over Germany and abroad. Its contribution to German philately is very important, and it was deeply involved in the foundation of BDPh. The national exhibition in 1953 and the NAPOSTA 1978 and 1989 were also largely organised by “Kunde”.

The Unione Filatelica Subalpina celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2013, a milestone in the history of one of the oldest philatelic societies on the country and one of those most engaged in supporting both local and national activities. The history of the Unione Filatelica Subalpina, is not only that of the events organised, or of the many contributions made to philatelic knowledge or of the prestigious awards in exhibitions, but it is also and perhaps above all that of the many evenings or afternoons spent exchanging stamps and postal items, discussing printing techniques and errors, studying fluorescence, watching the presentation of collections by members, listening to the advice of experts, discussing rates and competition regulations or speculating on the meaning of the signs visible on a letter.

The Society is currently the largest affiliated society in Great Britain and has actively promoted philately throughout the past two years during the COVID 19 pandemic. It was founded in 1934 and reinstated in 1946 as it was closed during the hostilities. The Southampton and District Philatelic Society was one of the first in the UK to introduce Video Presentations in place of face-to-face meetings and it has continued to augment its calendar of events with this type of technology. It has strong ties, both locally and within the general philatelic world in Great Britain.

FEPA Certificate of Appreciation (1999-2021)