Both in Germany and in Italy there was a movement to put aside city states and unite the people. Poets like Foscolo provide the inspiration if not the means. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
The stamp today aims to do what stamp issuance is all about. The issue was put together by the Dante Alighieri Society to honor and celebrate important Italian cultural figures. The society had outposts around the world and of course stamp issues get around the world as well. The higher denominations even had a surcharge that went to the society. Post war, with the end of Italian Royalty, the various chapters were untethered from Italy itself but allowed to continue promoting Italian culture. This lessens the impetus behind them but also better separates them from politics.
Todays stamp is issue A126, 30 Centesimi stamp issued by the Kingdom of Italy on March 14, 1932. It was part of a 12 stamp issue in various denominations that honor Italian cultural figures from the past. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.60 used. The used version of the 10 +2.5 Lira stamp featuring Dante himself is worth $450.
Ugo Foscolo was born in 1778 to a Greek mother and a threadbare Venetian nobleman working as a Doctor in the Greek Isles. Upon his fathers death at age 10, the family moved back to Venice and Ugo’s knowledge of ancient and modern Greek allowed Ugo to receive a first rate literary education.
In 1797, Venice, then a city state republic fell to Napoleon. Ugo was in favor of this as he hoped that Napoleon could unite Italy. He even volunteered to fight for Napoleon. At the same time he began writing poetry that described the noble but fruitless struggles of Italians to unite their people. His work was very popular and was strongly influenced by the ancient Greeks and also fellow traveler Goethe in Germany.
After being captured in battle fighting for Napoleon he began traveling to Milan where he came into contact with other Italian literary figures. He also was involved with a memorandum to Napoleon that suggested a form for a united Italian government. The memorandum was ignored. In this period he wrote “Dei Sepolcri”, his masterpiece. It told the story of literary greats from the past rising from their tombs to do battle for their countries in the present.
After the fall of Napoleon in 1815, Ugo made his way to London where he was vetted by high society for his previous work. He became somewhat sloppy with money and personal relations, then spent time in debtor’s prison. This reduced his stature much and upon release he ended up teaching Italian at a girl’s boarding school. He never married but ended up with one English daughter as a result of his many affairs. He died in England at age 50.
His status rose a great deal in the 1870s. The newly united Italian kingdom under King Victor Emmanuel sought to use the fame of Italian cultural figures to convince the Italian people to be loyal to the new Italian state. This was somewhat at odds with the Catholic Church and the efforts can be seen as creating an alternate line of secular Italian Saints. Ugo Foscolo’s remains were returned to Italy in 1871 with pomp and circumstance and placed beside such notables as Machiavelli, Galileo, and Michelangelo.
Well my drink is empty so I will open the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.