Remembering Dante Alighieri was something that happen a lot under the Monarchy of the first 80 years of a united Italian state. To a large extent this dropped away after the King was forced to abdicate. At the 100 year mark, it was perhaps time to lay claim on all history as part of the whole. So here we have Dante and the same year there was a reappearance of King Victor Emanuel on a stamp cleverly couched in terms of veterans. The times they were a changing. 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.
A Centennial is a good time to come together. The Monarchy had promoted Italian unity and a distinct post Roman Italian culture. That was why Dante was so promoted during the Monarchy. He provided part of the historical cultural basis for what was being done in the 19th century Yet after the war this dropped away as the Monarchy was perhaps rightly discredited by the African colonial adventures and the alliance with Germany. Yet in the 1960s there were still a lot of Italians that had participated and sacrificed in those causes while in the service of Italy. The style of the celebration was perhaps a recognition of that.
It was perhaps too early for this reversion. President Kennedy’s speech in honor of the centennial emphasized the Roman Republic and explicitly Greece as the historical basis for modern Italy. No mention of the monarchy and an American style human rights come from God and not through a King reference. America kept a close eye on Italian politics post war as they were opposed to monarchists or a communist takeover by way of the ballot box.
This pushback can be seen in the stamps as well. Another honoring veteran stamp made clear it only meant veterans that fought for the Allies, a tiny minority. Another implying the Italians were prisoners of a Nazi concentration camp. They were not referring to Italy’s few Jews.
The outreach to monarchists ended suddenly by a pretender overplaying a weak hand. The Last King Umberto II had abdicated not by choice in 1946 and lived in exile in Portugal. In 1969, his estranged first born son, Victor Emanuel, declared himself unilaterally King of Italy from Switzerland. Naturally this turned any talk of Monarchy into a joke. He then married a non Royal Swiss heiress without seeking the required permission of his father. A second cousin then claimed that put him out of the line, and second cousin in. Clearly a line to nowhere.
In 1983, the last Italian King Umberto II was ailing. The then current Italian Head of State President Sandro Pertini, a socialist, requested that the post war Italian law be changed and Umberto II be allowed to come home and die. This was refused. Umberto II died abroad and no representative of the Italian government was present at the funeral. The American view of Italian history was now the vogue.
Todays stamp is issue A489, a 40 Lira stamp issued by Italy on October 21, 1965. It was a 4 stamp issue in various denominations remembering the 700th anniversary of the birth of Dante Alighieri. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.
Well my drink is empty and so I will consult with American authorities as to who these days I am allowed to toast. I expect they will just suggest I put the bottle away, always the safe choice. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.