PRESIDENT LECH WALESA (POLAND) - COMMEMORATIVE SHEET WITH FIRST DAY CANCELLATION CIRCA 1986 - HFSID 131938

PRESIDENT LECH WALESA(POLAND)

The Nobel Peace Prize winner and President of Poland signs this 22-cent 1986 Statue of Liberty Commemorative Sheet

Commemorative Sheet with First Day Cancellation: “L Walesa” in black ink. 8x10½. One page. Issue Date: July 4, 1986. In full: “Statue of Liberty Commemorative Stamp. A 22-cent commemorative stamp honoring the centennial of the Statue of Liberty was issued July 4 in New York City. The first day of issue ceremony was held on Governor's Island, during Liberty Weekend '86, an extensive program of events celebrating the centennial. On the same day in Paris, the French postal administration (PTT) issued a 2, 20 franc and 2,50 franc postal card in honor of the Statue. The Statue of Liberty was presented to the United States by the people of France as an expression of their fraternity and regard for the nation's founding principles. Conceived by Frederick Auguste Bartholdi and officially titled “Liberty Enlightening the World,” the sculpture became at once an internationally recognized symbol of American liberty and contempt for tyranny. Situated on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty towers 305 feet from pedestal base to upheld torch. The Statue's thin (3/32 inch) copper sheathing is protected from the elements by a durable patina, and its 450, 000 pound weight is supported and buttressed against the strong harbor winds by a remarkably effective iron framework devised by Gustave Eiffel. An American architect, Richard Morris Hunt, designed the pedestal. The design used for the Statue of Liberty stamps and postal card indicia was created by Howard Paine, of Delaplane, Virginia. Mr. Paine based his work on a photograph by Peter B. Kaplan, a New York City artist noted for his “bird's eye” photographs of the city, often taken from the urban summits of skyscrapers and bridge towers. In keeping with the cooperative nature of the joint Postal Service/French PTT project, the design was engraved in France by Claude Jumelet. Working from Mr. Jumelet's engraving, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing produced the U.S. stamp by the two-color intaglio process.” Lech Walesa (b. 1934) won the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution "to insure the workers right to establish their own organizations", served as President of Poland from 1990-1995. He had been an electrician in the Lenin Shipyard in Gdánsk, where he was active in union organizing for several years. In 1980, he was the co-founder and Chairman of the National Co-Ordinated Committee of Independent Free Trade Union Solidarnosc (Solidarity). The national union received unprecedented concessions from the Polish government until the union was suspended in 1981. During the 1988 labor unrest, Walesa negotiated with the government, agreeing to persuade workers to return to their jobs in exchange for talks on legalizing Solidarity. On April 5, 1989, an accord was reached between the government and opposition factions on a broad range of political and economic reforms, including free elections. Pencil notations (on verso). Stamped. Two Liberty Commemorative Stamps affixed. Otherwise, fine condition.