Czesław Słania (22 October 1921

Czeladź Czeladź (; yi, טשעלאַדזש, Chelodz) is a town in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie (part of historic Lesser Poland), in southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. Located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river (tributary of the Vistul ...

; 17 March 2005

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

) was a Polish-born

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

and

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

engraver, living in Sweden from 1956. According to the ''Guinness Book of World Records'', Słania was the most skilled and prolific of all stamp engravers, with over 1000 stamps to his credit. His 1000th engraved stamp, based on the 17th-century painting "Great Deeds by Swedish Kings" by

David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl (23 September 1628 – 23 October 1698) was a Swedish nobleman and portrait painter. Biography David Klöcker was born in Hamburg. He was the son of Johann Klöcker and had eight siblings. In 1648, Klöcker tr ...

(2000), is in the Guinness Book as the largest engraved stamp ever issued.

Life

Słania was born in

near

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

, Poland, and was the son of a miner."The Slania I Knew" by

Otto Hornung Otto Hornung (1920http://hps.gr/fipliterature/bureau/hornung.html FIP Literature Commission profile retrieved 30 September 2009. in Ostrava"The Slania I Knew" by Otto Hornung in ''Gibbons Stamp Monthly'', June 2005, p.90. – 8 January 2013) wa ...

in ''

Gibbons Stamp Monthly ''Gibbons Stamp Monthly'' (GSM) is a leading British philatelic magazine which can trace its roots back to 1890. GSM is published by the famous stamps and collectables firm of Stanley Gibbons and each issue includes updates to their various cata ...

'', June 2005, p.90. During the Second World War he forged money and documents for the Polish resistance. He entered the Kraków School of Fine Arts, a renowned graphics arts centre, in 1945. While still a student, Słania was employed by the Polish Stamp Printing Works, where he learned to engrave in steel. His first stamp was issued in Poland on 24 March 1951. In 1956, Słania moved to Sweden, where he began employment with the Swedish postal authorities in 1959. He produced stamps for Sweden and 30 other countries. His work was of such recognized quality and detail that he is one of the very few "household names" among

philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...

s, and some specialize in collecting his work. He was the Royal Court Engraver of Sweden since 1972. His last work was a stamp in 2005 to commemorate the 60th session of the United Nations General Assembly. He was also very productive in designing and engraving banknotes for numerous countries in six out of seven continents.

Awards

Czesław Słania received many awards during his life, including: * Commander of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland 1999 *

Order of Saint Charles The Order of Saint Charles (french: Ordre de Saint Charles) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in Monaco on 15 March 1858. Award This order rewards service to the State or Prince. In particular cases, it may be granted to foreign ...

* Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog (Denmark) * Order Mérite Culturel (Monaco) * Robert Stolz Music Prize (Sweden 1983) *

Rowland Hill Award The Rowland Hill Awards were established in 1997 as a joint venture between Britain's Royal Mail, the British Philatelic Trust and the Association of British Philatelic Societies. The awards are named after the noted Victorian postal reformer Si ...

2002

References

External links

Collecting the Works of Czeslaw Slania by Chuck MatlackCzeslaw Slania's Engraved Stamps and BanknotesForging Nazi Documents and Drawing for Kings: Czesław Słania’s Story
from Culture.pl Stamp designers {{DEFAULTSORT:Slania, Czeslaw People from Czeladź 1921 births 2005 deaths 20th-century engravers 21st-century engravers Polish stamp designers Polish engravers Polish expatriates in Sweden Burials at Rakowicki Cemetery Philately of Poland Philately of Sweden Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Recipients of the Order of Saint-Charles Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog