Romania 2008 "Centenary of Grigore Antipa National Natural History Museum"
| <prev | back to index | next> |
| Issue Date | 20.05.2008 |
| ID | Michel: 6296-6297; Scott: 5043-5044; Stanley Gibbons: 6890-6891; Yvert et Tellier: 5300-5301; Category: pF |
| Design | Alina Munteanu |
| Stamps in set | 2 |
| Value | Lei 2,40 - Animals and Plants Lei 3,00 - Grigore Antipa |
| Size (width x height) | 33 mm x 48 mm |
| Layout | 2 Mini-sheets 8 stamps and one label each |
| Products | FDC x1, MS x2 |
| Paper | |
| Perforation | 13.5 x 13.5 |
| Print Technique | Offset lithography, four colours |
| Printed by | Fabrica de timbre |
| Quantity | 97.600, 41.600 |
| Issuing Authority | Compania Nationala Posta Romana SA |
On May 20th, 2008, the Post Authority of Romania with assistance of the “Grigore Antipa” National Natural History Museum in Bucharest, issued the set of two stamps "Centenary of Grigore Antipa National Natural History Museum". These stamps were issued in tow Mini-Sheets with skeleton of Dinotherium giganteum on a label in the top-left corner.
The following text was published on the website of Romfilatelia in 2008
One hundred years ago, in the presence of King Carol I, King Ferdinand, and Princess Maria, the
National Natural History Museum would officially open its doors in a new "Highway" building.
The history of the museum goes further back in time, in 1834, when the ruler Alexandru Ghica
endorsed the setup decree of the National Museum Bucharest.
The first collection's curator was Carol Wallenstein de Vella (an Austrian of Croatian origin)
in 1837.
Then followed the tutor Carlo Ferrerati (Italian) in 1860, and in 1867,
Prof. Gregoriu Stefanescu was elected museum director.
 |
| Dinotherium giganteum on stamp of Romania 1967" MiNr.: 2609, Scott: 1941. |
In 1893, Grigore Antipa was appointed director of State Zoological Collections.
One year later, these collections are moved to new headquarters, in a building on Polona Street.
The construction of the new headquarters in Victoriei Square begun in 1904 and the building was
finalized and inaugurated within four years and it was designated as the Museum of Zoology.
With the inauguration of the museum, the first zoo-geographical dioramas in the world were revealed
(Tundra, Prairie, African Savannah, and Sahara) and due to their high quality served as a
model for many museums in the country and outside its borders.
6 years after this event, in 1914, occasioned by the inauguration of 11 new presentation halls,
King Carol I grants a new name to the institution, namely the National Natural History Museum.
In 1933, as a recognition of Grigore Antipa's merits, King Carol II names the museum after the famous
scholar biologist, evolutionist, ichthyologist, ecologist, oceanologist, museum's
custodian and economist.
|
| Dinotherium giganteum on tab of stamp of Romania 2008 |
The "Antipa" Museum, one of the richest in the world, hosts more than two million cataloged items.
Most of these are to be found in the 39 halls of the museum.
The exponates cover various domains such as: zoology, mineralogy, anthropology,
paleontology, compared anatomy, ethnography.
During the years, the museum enriched with scientifical collections among other,
including items that are unique in the world.
Of extreme importance are the creature group collections out of which we hereby include
The "Aristide Caragea" Butterfly Collection, counting more than 120,000 items;
The "Bielz" Mollusc with more than 90,000 items;
The "Petre Banarascu" Fish Collection, with more than 5,000 items;
The Collection of Sea Invertebrata "Mihai Bacescu", with more than 11,400 items;
The Collection of Mammals from around the world and the local Romanian fauna counting more
than 8,000 items;
and the Collection of Birds from local fauna and abroad with more than 9,000 exponates.
At the same time, the museum enriches with every single year passing by with all sorts of materials that
are either donations or brought about by the work conducted by the museum researchers or by means of
internal or external expeditions performed by specialists.
Note: a tab on upper-left corner of each mini-sheet shows a fossil of Dinotherium giganteum - the most impressive exponats of the museum. First time this fossil was depicting on Romania's stamp on 1967.
| FDC | Mini Sheets | |
 |
 |
|
|
References
- Technical details and short description:
Romfilatelia , colnect.
Acknowledgements:
Many thanks to Dr. Peter Voice from Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University, for reviewing the draft page.| <prev | back to index | next> |