This Spanish cinema series celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Goya Awards and the best film of 2010. It is made up of a souvenir sheet and a stamp.

The Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences of Spain awards the Goyas annually in acknowledgement of the best professionals in the film industry in the different categories. These awards were created at the initiative of a group of renowned professionals who wished to level the Spanish film industry with other countries such as Hollywood’s Oscars, Berlin’s Bear, French Cesar Awards French or the Lion of Venice.

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published May 26th, 2011

This new issue is available to purchase on WOPA, for more information please visit the website:

http://www.wopa-stamps.com/

20th Anniversary of the Cremant de Luxembourg

Creating a crémant requires constant vigilance, rigorous control and specific know-how, beginning with the vine. The etymology of crémant originates from the word “cream”, which underscores the consistency rather than the vinosity of a festival wine combining fruit, freshness and smoothness.

A crémant is the qualitative pinnacle of a traditional method controlled for a long time, which involves extra effort in the vineyard and a rigorous selection process of grapes and base wines. To produce sparkling wine, one may use any one of the types of vines certified in Luxembourg. The grapes must be very clean, quite ripe and intact until pressed. The “Crémant de Luxembourg” is made from the best types of vines of the Luxembourg Moselle region. Each winegrower chooses his own blends, which results in a great variety of wines and their specific flavours.

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published May 26th, 2011

published May 23rd, 2011

To celebrate the 150 anniversary of the Property Act (Ley Hipotecaria), a stamp is issued within the “Anniversaries” series depicting the official logo made on occasion of this commemoration.

The Property Act was passed on February 8 1861 under the reign of Elizabeth II and was the origin of the current real estate registry system. The new law was one of the milestones in the changing Spanish legal system, going from a situation of overlapping stratified rules to a scientific approach of regulations and a process of codifying laws.

The original legislation has been amended successively over its 150 year’s life existence during which many public institutions and organisms have been created. In 1861 the Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad) was also created aiming at “the registration or endorsement of title deeds and other rights over real estate.” The Registry has an official status and its main duty is to provide reliable information to individuals when drawing up a contract on the property registered. This Land Registry meets basically three purposes: to establish a solid basis for mortgage loans, to provide protection to owners of registered rights and to make real estate legal transactions swift.

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published May 17th, 2011

On 14 December 1911, five men stood at the southern axis of the earth. They planted the Norwegian flag and named the area KongHaakon VIIs vidde. Those men were Roald Amundsen, Olav Bjaaland, Oscar Wisting, Helmer Hansen and Sverre Hassel, the first men to reach the South Pole.

They had left the Framheim base on 20 October, taking with them four sledges and 52 dogs. The dogs were one of the most important items Amundsen had with him. He had brought them from Greenland, because the underfoot conditions and terrain were ideal for Eskimo dogs. Amundsen also recognized the advantage of being able to slaughter the weaker dogs en route and use the meat to feed the others. As it turned out, the human members of the expedition also appreciated a fresh piece of canine steak.

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published May 16th, 2011

Fridjof Nansen 150th anniversary

Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930)’s studies in zoology led to his appointment in 1882 as assistant curator at Bergen Museum. Here he specialised in neuroanatomy, mainly in lower vertebrates.

He formulated path-breaking descriptions of the contact points of nerve cells. His thesis on the structure of the nervous system of the hagfish, which earned him a Ph.D. in 1888, helped to establish the neuron doctrine, a theory of how nerve cells communicate with each other. This theory has made a fundamental contribution to our understanding of how the brain works. Many people regard the ripple effects of Nansen’s work in this field as his greatest contribution to humanity.

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published May 10th, 2011

In 1960, British lawyer Peter Benenson read a newspaper article about two Portuguese students who had been sentenced to seven years in prison for proposing a toast to freedom.

Benenson wrote immediately to the Portuguese government protesting against the sentence. A year later The Observer newspaper printed his article, The Forgotten Prisoners, in which he appealed for the release of persons all over the world who had been sent to prison for their opinions or beliefs. He called them prisoners of conscience. The response was enormous, and by 1961 Amnesty International had been established with its headquarters in London. Soon afterwards, national offices were opened in seven countries. Initially, Amnesty concerned itself mainly with prisoners of conscience and torture. Gradually it included the death sentence, violence to women and poverty among its central tasks. Prisoners of conscience may be people who have criticized their country’s government, have connections with an opposing party, have refused to do national service or belong to a religious community that opposes the regime.

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published April 28th, 2011

Grand Duke Jean has served His country as Chief of State for 36 years and can, on the occasion of His 90th birthday, reflect on a full career, rich in emotions and memories.

Born on 5 January 1921 at Berg Castle and given the name Guillaume Robert Antoine Louis Marie Adolphe Marc d’Aviano of Luxembourg, He is the eldest son of the Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg and Prince Felix of Bourbon Parma.

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published April 21st, 2011

The first seeds for equal rights between men and women were sown in the 18th century. There had certainly been sporadic calls earlier, among others, from Christine de Pizan, who in 1405 challenged the female opression in the society and argued that women and men had the same mental properties. But it was not before the ideas of Enlightenment about human equality and demands for general political, social and economic influence, that the demand for equality between men and women was made.

The First Wave But half a century went by before there was enough structure behind the demand for improved equality.  In the early industrial age, working people lived under unspeakable social conditions, which did not exactly leave much room for the struggle for gender equality.  But in the second half of the nineteenth century, a series of political and social reforms were carried out, and more and more women became aware of their position in society and lack of rights.  Women started to organize around the demands for basic rights and demanded legal, economical, political and educational equality.

The most prominent demand was voting right for women.

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published April 15th, 2011

The stamp portrays Father Landell de Moura speaking into a wave transmitting microphone, one of the devices he invented.

The drawing was created using an image of Father Landell and the device to assemble a picture that was complemented with digital artwork to reconstruct the real situation.

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published April 8th, 2011

On 3 February, 2011, An Post issued a stamp to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland.

The American Chamber of Commerce, Ireland was established on 10 January, 1961 to positively promote US Trade & Investment between Ireland and the US. Over the last 50 years this has been done by creating a community of US business leaders and focussing the minds of policy makers to make Ireland an ever more attractive place for US companies.

Longsighted policies, combined with the work of government agencies, and the powerful support of the American Chamber of Commerce, resulted in the phenomenal business growth that today has over 100,000 people employed by US companies in Ireland. Together those companies now have $165 billion invested in Ireland and contribute €18 billion to the Irish economy annually.

As the American Chamber celebrates its first 50 years and (read more)

published February 26th, 2011