Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Madeira Island Quintas

Set of stamps

Souvenir sheet I

Souvenir sheet II
First Day Cover

The Quintas da Madeira, witness to centuries past, keep the story of who gave them life and name. Aristocratic families found themselves in Madeira where the dream of shaping a life. These infrastructures show us a way of life rooted in the feudal system of past centuries and kept alive the memories of the heyday of the route and Sugar Madeira Wine. Each farm has a story to tell, the interiors of the houses are fragments of a life and beauty of the gardens conceal a greater or lesser variety of endemic flora of the region. So the "Quintas da Madeira" arise from the need to preserve the estate of an interesting history of the island of Madeira and was therefore distinguished as a hallmark of the island, its history and distinction. Meet the Quintas da Madeira and discover beautiful places where you can spend your holidays!

Technical Details
Date of Issue: 23.09.2011
Values: stamps of €0,32, €0,68, €0,80 and €2.00 and two souvenir sheets with one stamp of €1,75 and €2.30
Designer: Pedro Antunes
Printer: Cartor
Process: 4-colour offset lithography
Size: stamps 40.0 mm x 30.6 mm
Souvenir sheet 125 x 95 mm
Perforation: Cross of Christ 13 x 13
Paper: White TR CPST331 110g/m2
Watermark:
Sheet: sheets of 50 stamps

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Three years after… time to make some statistics.

Born of a conversation with my wife, I found myself initially reluctant, on which interest could have a general blog on letters and postcards exchanged with friends around the world.
This initial doubt turned out this blog as the most visited and participated in my blogs.
To all, many thanks for your regular visits.

Now the stats...

Three years old
A total of 820 posts published
111 registered followers
Visitors from 139 countries
14694 unique visitors (812 in Portugal)
More than 45,000 page viewers
Daily average of 20 visitors
Mostly in the northern hemisphere
United States as the country with the highest number of visits (7166)
UAE the country with the last new visitor (today!)
Benin is the newest country (last visited November 10, 2011)
Blog ‘timbre ma philatélie’ the visitor that most often visited my blog with 708 hits
2862 references on Google
Windows© as the OS of choice for page viewers (89%)
Internet Explorer© as the most widely used browser (52%)


Wednesday, December 28, 2011

History of Archaeology in Portugal – Stamps Book

Presentation of the book 'History of Archaeology in Portugal', the latest edition of the Collectors Club of the Portuguese Post, held on last December 22, 2011 at the Museum D. Diogo de Souza in Braga.
Following this presentation of the book and talk about the challenges of archaeology in Portugal, an autograph session takes place by the author of the book Carlos Fabião.

Me and Carlos Fabião

Monday, December 26, 2011

Theatre in Portugal II

Set of stamps
Souvenir sheet I
Souvenir sheet II
First Day Cover with stamps
Garrett represents the introduction of romanticism in Portuguese theatre, but more than that, he indisputably opened the gates to the whole structure of stage and dramaturgy modernization through his writing but also through the institutions for the promotion of theatre and theatrical activities which he created, in an adequately articulated perspective as regards functionality and complementarity: The Teatro Nacional (the company and later also the building), the Conservatório de Arte Dramática, dramaturgy contests, the Inspecção Geral de Teatros e Espectáculos, copyrights and even a subsidy system.
All of them, duly modernized, still exist until this day. But more than that, Garrett’s own dramaturgy – of an exceptional level, despite fluctuations – brought to Portugal, from the onset of the vigorous romanticism, a style and a school, in some cases of outstanding quality, that fed both our literature and our stages for almost a century. Even poets and novelists, who did not focus on theatre, owe to him the renovation of style and content that to this day still deserves highlighting. Camilo is a clear example.
However, it was D. João da Câmara, at the passing of the century, who marked the beginning of a realistic school that still subsist, coexisting, with full quality and timeliness, with more modern currents that also marked and still mark Portuguese theatre, from symbolism to modernism, from expressionism to epic theatre and to theatre of the absurd.
From the beginning of the 19th century, modernist or symbolist, authors such as Almada Negreiros, António Patrício or even Fernando Pessoa (a sporadic playwright) deserve highlighting; as well as prevalently (but not only) realist authors, such as Carlos Selvagem or Ramada Curto; or even Alfredo Cortez, who with Gladiadores introduced expressionism, among others.
They ruled the Portuguese scene, especially in the first half of the 20th Century, leaving continuity in names and notable works, as it is the case with José Régio or Bernardo Santareno, but also authors like Luís Francisco Rebello, Miguel Torga, Luís de Sttau Monteiro, Paço d’ Arcos, Cardoso Pires or in more recent times, Mário Cláudio, Mário de Carvalho, Luísa Costa Gomes, Fernando Dacosta, Norberto Ávila, Diogo Freitas do Amaral, Abel Neves, Isabel Medina, Jacinto Lucas Pires…
Régio and Santareno, each one in his own way, symbolized the transition in Portuguese Theatre from a realistic line with poetic references, in a comprehensive sense, to a dramaturgic conception marked by the conciliation between a traditional poetic-dramatic mix and a spirited affirmation of modernity, both from the stylistic point of view, but above all by the criticism of the contents: the plays are profoundly critical and profoundly modern, even when taking place in more distant times or in fantasy situations.
But more than providing a mere list of names, it is important to underline the aesthetic and stylistic renewal towards modernity which these dramatists imprinted on Portuguese theatre. It is furthermore interesting to see how Portuguese theatre, within the constraints that cyclically have influenced dramaturgic production and performing arts since the 19th century, was able to mirror the evolution of society, of attitudes and thought, of culture and art, from Garrett to the present day.
 It should also be mentioned that, mainly after the end of the 19th century, theatre–show in Portugal gained relevance and quality, following the brilliant actors, stage directors and other scene artists who marked the regeneration of our theatrical art. Names like José Anastácio Rosa and João Rosa, Eduardo Brazão and Rosa Damasceno, Amélia Rey Colaço and Augusto Figueiredo, Armando Cortez, Rogério Paulo and Laura Alves, Ruy de Carvalho, Cármen Dolores, Eunice Muñoz and Raul Solnado, among hundreds of other great names of the stage who have assured the continuity of this art, which sometimes is so poorly cherished and understood among us!

Technical Details
Date of Issue: 08.09.2011
Values: stamps of €0,32, €0,32, €0,47, €0,68, €0,80 and €1.00 and two miniature sheets with two stamps of €1.00 each
Designer: Atelier Acácio Santos / Túlio Coelho
Printer: Joh. Enschedé
Process: 4-colour offset lithography
Size: stamps 40.0 mm x 30.6 mm
Souvenir sheet 95 x 125 mm
Perforation: Cross of Christ 13 x 13
Paper: White TR CPST331 110g/m2
Watermark:
Sheet: sheets of 50 stamps

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Centenary of higher educations institutions

Stamps
First Day Cover
Education reform was a priority of the 1st Republic. As evidence of that fact, six month after the 5 October 1910 Revolution, the Government decreed a number of laws to re-shape the entire education system. Urgent measures were required as more than 70% of the population was illiterate. At the basis of the many reforms implemented in this field was the conviction that civic education was supposed to involve the physical, intellectual and moral development of the individual, and that it was in Primary School that the ‘spirit of the republican fatherland’ would be shaped. This reforming impulse also became evident in the construction of schools, improvement of conditions for teachers, creation of normal higher education schools and in the creation of higher technology education institutes. As far as higher education is concerned, it is worth highlighting the creation of the Universidade de Lisboa and Universidade do Porto (incorporating the existing higher education institutions) and of the Instituto Superior Técnico and Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão that will be celebrating their 100th anniversary in 2011. By these measures, the Universidade de Coimbra was no longer the only university in the country, while the technology and scientific components were built up in the recently created universities.

The Universidade Portuguesa was founded in Lisbon in 1288-1290 where it remained between the 13th and 16th centuries. In 1911 the Republic created, once again, the Universidade de Lisboa, which incorporated several higher education institutes: Real Escola de Cirurgia (1825), Escola Politécnica (1837) and Curso Superior de Letras (1859). Today, the Universidade de Lisboa cultivates all areas of knowledge and enjoys considerable international prestige. With 23 thousand students and 2 thousand teachers and researchers organised in 11 faculties and institutes, 60 research centres and associated laboratories, the Universidade de Lisboa is one of the main teaching, science, culture and development centres of Portugal.

The origins of the Universidade do Porto can be traced back to the founding of the Aulas de Náutica (1762) and Debuxo e Desenho (1779), created by King Dom José and by Queen Dona Maria I, respectively. There were other institutions at the root of the University, viz. Academia Real da Marinha e Comércio (1803), Régia Escola de Cirurgia (1825), Escola de Farmácia (1836), Academia Portuense de Belas Artes (1836) and Academia Politécnica (1837). The republican reform led to the creation of the university, which incorporated the Faculdade de Ciências and the Faculdade de Medicina. As present it has 30 thousand students and 2 thousand teachers and researchers in its 14 faculties and 60 scientific research centres and enjoys considerable reputation on account of the excellence of its teaching and researching projects.

The Instituto Superior Técnico is the result of the splitting in 1911 of the Instituto Industrial e Comercial de Lisboa. For its installation, the construction of the first university campus was initiated in 1927, on the Alameda, under the direction of Duarte Pacheco and based on a project by Pardal Monteiro. In 1930, the IST was incorporated in the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa. With more than 10 thousand students, it is a reference school in the fields of engineering, architecture, science and technology and incorporates top-ranking laboratories, and also research, development and technology transfer institutes.

The separation of the Instituto Industrial e Comercial de Lisboa also led to the creation of the Instituto Superior de Comércio, which in 1930, under the name Instituto Superior de Ciências Económicas e Financeiras, was integrated in the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa. Having changed its name in 1989 to Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, this school trains specialists in Economics, Management, Social Sciences and Math. In the words of its Chairman, the ISEG, which is an institution of international level, ‘is one of the institutions with major responsibility in the education of the elite of thought, economic and entrepreneurial decision making in Portugal’.

Technical Details
Date of Issue: 22 March 2011
Values: two stamps of €0,32 and two stamps of €0,80
Designer: José Brandão / Susana Brito
Printer: Joh. Enschedé
Process: 4-colour offset lithography
Size: stamps 40.0 mm x 30.6 mm
Perforation: Cross of Christ 13 x 13
Paper: White TR CPST331 110g/m2
Watermark:
Sheet: sheets of 50 stamps