Georges Henri Kaestlin (1892 – 18 February 1981) was a banker who formed a leading collection of

Russian Imperial The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...

and

Zemstvo stamp A Zemstvo stamp was a Russian local stamp used widely in rural areas from 1865. It was named after the Zemstvo local administrative districts or uyezds that were created in 1864. The stamps ceased at about the time of the 1917 Russian revolution. ...

s after he and his family were forced to leave Russia following the

1917 revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of governm ...

. His collection was donated to the Smithsonian Museum in 1984 following his wish that it not be dispersed as other important collections had been.

Early life

Georges Henri Kaestlin was born in Saint Petersburg in 1892 to Swiss parents. His father was the president and chairman of the Russian Bank for Foreign Trade. He was educated at the Prince Tenisheff Private School for Boys and later at the Imperial Polytechnic Institute from where he earned a degree in

political economy Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour ...

. He was a keen sportsman, enjoying sailing, skiing and mountain climbing which he practiced during holidays at the family's Swiss home. By the age of 17 he had climbed many of the Swiss peeks.Biography of G.H. Kaestlin by Vera Kaestlin-Bock, 1985, in "Biography of G.H. Kaestlin", Thomas Lera, ''

The London Philatelist ''The London Philatelist'' was first published in January 1892
by

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

. His business career was uneventful and he devoted his energies to collecting and tennis which he played into his 70s. His only son died in an accident and his wife became seriously ill. After her death he retired to Switzerland. He later married Vera Bock, a Russian-born artist and illustrator who left St. Petersburg at the same time Kaestlin did.

Philately

Kaestlin began to collect Russian Imperial stamps as a young man, widening his collection to include Zemstvo stamps when he arrived in England and later concentrating on just that area. The Zemstvo stamps were a form of

local stamp Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

issued from 1865 by the

Zemstvo A ''zemstvo'' ( rus, земство, p=ˈzʲɛmstvə, plural ''zemstva'' – rus, земства) was an institution of local government set up during the great emancipation reform of 1861 carried out in Imperial Russia by Emperor Alexande ...

unit of local administration to rectify the deficiencies of the Imperial Post which only covered the major towns, leaving rural areas without a postal service. He did not join philatelic societies, exhibit his collection, or write articles about it, however, he did make copious notes, research forgeries, and produce a typewritten catalogue of the collection. His write-up was meticulous and included hand-drawn maps. It is thought he also collaborated with Karl Schmidt, author of important Zemstvo catalogues of the 1930s. Despite his lack of participation in organised philately, Kaestlin was not completely unknown to the philatelic world, contributing to the guarantee fund for the Stamp Centenary Exhibition 1940, bidding in the Fabergé auctions of 1940, and entering into correspondence with

Sir John Wilson __NOTOC__ Sir John Foster Wilson CBE (20 January 1919 – 25 November 1999) was a British public health advocate, best known for working to prevent blindness in developing countries in Africa and South and South East Asia. Early life and bac ...

, keeper of the

Royal Philatelic Collection The Royal Philatelic Collection is the postage stamp collection of the British royal family. It is the most comprehensive collection of items related to the philately of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth, with many unique pieces. ...

. Kaestlin's collection consists of 13 volumes of stamps and covers, and 15 staging albums of stamps and

postal stationery A piece of postal stationery is a stationery item, such as a stamped envelope, letter sheet, postal card, lettercard, aerogram or wrapper, with an imprinted stamp or inscription indicating that a specific rate of postage or related serv ...

covering the period 1865 to 1917. In total, it has more than 1,500 pages and 14,000 stamps including many acquired from the Agathon Fabergé and

Philipp von Ferrary Philip Ferrari de La Renotière (January 11, 1850 – May 20, 1917) was a noted French-born stamp collector, assembling probably the most complete worldwide collection that ever existed, or is likely to exist. Amongst his extremely rare stamps w ...

collections. In 2012, the Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press published a detailed account of the Kaestlin collection by Thomas Lera and Leon Finik in their Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge series.

Death and legacy

Kaestlin died in Zurich, Switzerland, on 18 February 1981.''The London Gazette''
17 August 1982, p. 10791. He left instructions that his stamp collection should not be auctioned or dispersed, as Agathon Fabergé's had out of necessity and against his wishes,"The dispersal of Agathon Fabergé’s great collections" by Jeffrey Stone in ''The London Philatelist'', Vol. 115, No. 1337 (July-August 2006), pp. 198-211. and accordingly, in 1984, it was donated to the Smithsonian Museum by his wife, Vera Madeleine Kaestlin-Bock.Lera, Thomas & Annette Shumway. (2012
''G. H. Kaestlin Collection of Zemstvo and Imperial Russian stamps and covers: Finding guide.''
Revised edition. Washington DC: Smithsonian National Postal Museum. p. 3.

References

External links

Russian Zemstvos: The G.H. Kaestlin Specialized Collection.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaestlin, Georges Russian philatelists Russian bankers 1892 births 1981 deaths Businesspeople from Saint Petersburg Russian people of Swiss descent Philately of Russia White Russian emigrants to the United Kingdom

Early life

Philately

Death and legacy

See also

References

External links