FEPA REVEALS AWARD WINNERS

The Federation of European Philatelic Associations (FEPA) have revealed the winners of the FEPA Medal for Exceptional Service to Philately, the FEPA Medal for Exceptional Philatelic Study and research, and the Certificate of Appreciation, which included a special mention for the Southampton and District Philatelic Society.

The FEPA Medal for Exceptional Service to Philately in 2021 has been awarded to Bernard Jimenez, who has been involved in all national and international exhibitions in France including PHILEXFRANCE 1999 and Salon du Timbre 2012 and 2014, both with FEPA Recognition. He has been very active in international organised philately, first as Secretary of the FIP Thematic Commission and later as a Member of the Board of the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) since 2006 and its Vice-president since 2016.

The FEPA Board was unable to agree on an outright winner for the FEPA Medal for Exceptional Philatelic Study and Research and so decided to award the medal to Lars Engelbrecht and Pedro Vaz Pereira as joint winners, for their studies ‘Postal Stationery of Denmark – The Bi-coloured Issue 1871-1905’ and ‘The Portuguese Post 1853-1900’, respectively.

The FEPA Certificate of Appreciation was awarded to four groups, including the UK’S Southampton and District Philatelic Society. ‘The Society is currently the largest affiliated society in Great Britain and has actively promoted philately throughout the past two years during the COVID 19 pandemic,’ the FEPA website explains. ‘The Southampton and District Philatelic Society was one of the first in the UK to introduce video presentations in place of face-to-face meetings and it has continued to augment its calendar of events with this type of technology. It has strong ties, both locally and within the general philatelic world in Great Britain.’

Other societies to receive the award included the KOSMOS Specialised Society, founded January 1971, one of the oldest specialised groups in Europe aiming at promoting and supporting collecting focused on astronautics and space research; the Frankfurt am Main Philatelic Society 1878 of Germany, one of the country’s oldest stamp groups; and the Subalpine Philatelic Union of Italy, described as ‘one of those most engaged in supporting both local and national activities’.