Posta Stamps Nr. 48

Posta Stamps No. 48 Faroe Islands April 2021 - Cz. Slania 100th Anniversary - ILA / Covid-19 in the Faroe islands - Art: Ingálvur av Reyni - Bishop's Copes ÚTGÁ N· V V U A D A H S G R 12.08.2021 I N Ó T Test proof Cz. Slania 100th Anniversary This year, Posta is celebrating the 100th made fake identity papers for the Polish re- anniversary of master engraver Czeslaw sistance movement. Slania (1921-2005). Slania was born on Oc- tober 22, 1921, in the small town of Czeladz After the war, in 1945, Slania entered the in Poland. Slania is considered one of the Graphic Department at the Krakow Acade- world’s most productive and accomplished my of Arts, where he gradually specialized engravers. He engraved over 1,000 postage in engraving techniques, among them etch- stamps for 32 different countries around ing and copper engraving. the world and became renowned for the precision, speed and sophistication of his Even before his training was over, Czeslaw work. While working on stamps he also en- Slania was employed by the Stamp Printing graved a great number of other works, in- Company of the Polish Postal Administra- cluding banknotes, and was appointed the tion, where he worked for 6 years. Royal Court Engraver of Sweden, Denmark and Monaco. During his lifetime, he re- In 1956, Slania moved to Sweden. At first, ceived a number of honours and awards for there was not much work to be found for his work. this very talented artist, but after a few years, he was hired by the Swedish Postal Already as a child, Czeslaw Slania demon- Administration. During the next 40 years strated amazing ability to draw detailed he engraved a large number of stamps for miniatures, especially portraits and horses. the Swedish Post – while eventually also In addition, he often drew pictures of his working for many other postal administra- schoolmates and copied banknotes and tions around the world. stamps - and, according to anecdotal evi- dence, also cinema and boxing tickets. It is In 1962, Czeslaw Slania engraved his first not known if he ever used these tickets. stamp for the Danish Postal Service. In the Slania’s abilities reportedly proved to be following years, he engraved a total of 241 very helpful during World War II, when he Danish stamps, while also engraving 80 2 Martin Mörck, engraver, in the process of engraving the stamp of Slania. Photo: Lennart Nilsson. stamps for Greenland he also engraved and impressive horns, looking like it will jump designed 100 stamps for the Faroe Islands. out of the stamp frame at any time. The anecdote has it that at the time Slania was The amazing diversity of Slania’s artistic actually working on another engraving but talents reached its full potential in the was so fascinated by the beautiful and stamps he engraved for the Faroese Postal spectacular ram that he kept returning to it. Administration. These include landscapes, buildings, carvings, flora, fauna and people In connection with the 100th anniversary of in different situations. In particular, his por- Czeslaw Slania’s birth, Denmark, Greenland traits of Faroese authors and his images of and the Faroe Islands are each issuing their folk life are of superb quality. own souvenir sheet, all featuring Slania’s portrait but with different backgrounds, typ- Slania also engraved two souvenir sheets ical of each country. An overview of the for Posta - the first for the Faroese Postal town of Klaksvík is engraved on the Faroese Service’s 25th anniversary. The second stamp sheet with Kunoy island’s southern- sheet depicted a painting of the Faroese most end reigning supreme in the chain dance by the Danish painter Emil background. Kruse. This souvenir sheet was also Cz- esław Slania’s 100th Faroese stamp - and The souvenir sheets are engraved by the re- the last one he made for Posta. nowned engraver, Martin Mörck, who many consider to be Slania’s heir in the field of The greatest masterpiece among Slania’s engraving. Faroese stamps is undoubtedly the famous Ram stamp. It is a detailed and utterly ex- Anker Eli Petersen quisite portrait of an adult ram with 3 Faroese stamps by Slania 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 4 1981 1983 1984 1985 5 1986 1987 1988 6 1989 1995 1997 2000 2001 2003 7 ILACOVID-19 K R FØ 2 0 R O Y R A A R Y 2 O 5 R K Ø R FO 965-966 F Edward Fuglø 2021 Edward Fuglø 2021 Test proof ILA / Covid-19 in the Faroes In their travelogue about the yacht Maria’s islands by ships from around the world. voyage to the Faroe Islands in 1854, Samuel Rathbone and E. H. Greig recount the story In 1846, just a few years before the yacht about their arrival in the islands. They sailed Maria visited the Faroes, the island popula- close by Nólsoy, with a hoisted signal flag tion was hit with a violent measles epidemic. indicating that they needed harbour pilots. A Almost no one was immune to the disease, large boat with 12 rowers was launched from and out of a population of 7782, approx. the village of Nólsoy, cautiously approach- 6,000 people were infected. About 150 ing the yacht. The first question the Faroese died of the disease. fishermen asked when they came within ear- shot of the crew on the yacht was: “Are there An infamous influenza epidemic called the any sick people on board?” Spanish flu, which ravaged the world in the years 1918-1920, also reached the Faroe Only when the crew of the yacht had assured Islands. More than 1100 people contracted the Faroese that there was no illness this disease and 13 died. On a worldwide onboard, the rowing boat approached and basis, it is estimated that approx. 50 million touched the yacht side. Two men came on people lost their lives due to the Spanish flu. board and navigated the yacht to port in Tór- shavn. From around the turn of the last century and well into the 20th century, the Faroe Islands The Faroese had ample reason to be very were also badly plagued by tuberculosis. An careful when approaching a foreign ship. For extensive testing of the population began centuries, right from the beginning of The in the mid-thirties, and later seamen were Black Death, the plague pandemic which required to undergo TB examination in order devastated Europe in the 14th century, the to be able to sign on as crew members on isolated population of the Faroe Islands had Faroese fishing ships. This happened in con- been very vulnerable to plague, smallpox junction with the mandatory tuberculosis or other epidemic diseases brought to the vaccination which began in 1946. In 1950 8 A team traveled around the islands to test for Covid-19 in August 2020 - here in Dímun. Photo: Fróði Jacobsen. medication had been developed for tubercu- health crisis. By February, it had spread to losis patients which in time led to the erad- 28 countries, including several in Europe - ication of tuberculosis as a public disease in and it was clear that the whole world was the Faroe Islands. facing a severe pandemic. Covid-19 Occurs A lot of alarm bells started ringing in those December 2019 brought the disturbing news days - also in the Faroe Islands. The Faroese that a new infectious type of the dreaded Health Service began preparing procedures Coronavirus had been detected in Wuhan, in January in case the disease should reach China. The new virus which received the tax- the Faroe Islands. One of those who heard onomic classification SARS-CoV-2 caused the alarm most clearly was Dr. Debes H. the severe disease Covid-19, a severe and Christiansen, head of the pathology depart- even fatal flu-like sickness that could lead to ment in “Heilsufrøðiliga Starvsstovan”, the pneumonia and attack the lower respiratory Faroese Food and Veterinary Authority - tract causing acute lung illness, especially in FFVA. people with weakened immune systems. It became clear early on that the most impor- Alarm Bells are Ringing tant approach in the fight against Covid-19 Covid-19 spread rapidly and was detected would be to test people, isolate the infected in January 2020 in several countries in the and trace the sources of infection. Failure to Far East as well as in the United States. On reduce outbreaks could lead to the conges- January 30, the World Health Organization, tion and collapse of hospital capacity in the WHO, declared Covid-19 an international Faroe Islands. 9 Already in January 2020, Debes Chris- Faroe Islands by plane or ship - and testing tiansen began to inspect and analyze the could be implemented on a large scale when composition of the coronavirus. He came Covid-19 was finally found in the islands. up with a rather untraditional solution to the While the outside world was still struggling problem of getting the Faroese population to get the test capacity ready, the Faroe tested for the virus. Islands were already working on an efficient and much cheaper test program. Testing, From Salmon to Humans tracing sources of infection, isolating the In 2001, the Faroese salmon industry was infected, 6-day quarantine for all arriving hit by a disaster. In most fish farms the from abroad, as well as restrictions on the salmon had been infected by the influenza right of assembly, became the main strategy virus ISA - infectious salmon anemia. In a points in the fight against Covid-19 - com- very short time, the salmon farmers lost bined with the usual calls for hand hygiene, approx.

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