Mirosław Artur Bojanowicz (1906 – 9 May 1986) Gary Ryan, ''Gibbons Stamp Monthly'', August 1986, p.11 was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

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. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possible ...

who settled in England after World War II and became a recognized expert on the stamps of Poland. He frequently served as a judge at international exhibitions and in 1966 was invited to sign the

Roll of Distinguished Philatelists The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP) is a Philately, philatelic award of international scale, created by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in 1921 to honour those who have advanced philately through research, expertise, or service. ...

; Bojanowicz was one of very few professional philatelists to be accorded this honour.''Gibbons Stamp Monthly'', May 1966, p.160

Early life

Bojanowicz was born in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

and as a child moved with his parents to Poland. He was of Bosnian origin, his original name was Miroslav Bojanović which was polonised to Mirosław Bojanowicz. Before the war he collected

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

for which he won a gold medal in Warsaw in 1936. He later expanded this collection to the whole of Yugoslavia.

After World War II

After the war he formed a collection of the

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and Cover (philately), covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal system ...

and stamps of Poland for the period 1938 to 1946 which, in 1966, he donated to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

(now the British Library). This collection includes Łodz ghetto post, underground posts, Warsaw Scout post, Polish government in exile, prisoner of war mail and Polish Free Forces mail.

Poland number one

He specialised in Poland No 1 and probably had one of the largest collection of this stamp in the world. This collection comprised some 1,500 copies of the stamp, over 300 covers and about 600 documents from this period. He started this collection in 1952.P C Pearson (Chairman of Publications Committee of The Royal London Philatelic Society), in the foreword of ''The Kingdom of Poland: Poland No 1 and associated Postal History'', 1979 He was the author of ''The Kingdom of Poland: Poland No 1 and associated Postal History'' (1979).

Donation

In 1966 Bojanowicz donated an important collection of Polish stamps and postal history of 1938-1946 to the

British Library Philatelic Collections The British Library Philatelic Collections is the national Philately, philatelic collection of the United Kingdom with over 8 million items from around the world. It was established in 1891 as part of the British Museum Library, later to b ...

where it forms the

Bojanowicz Collection The Bojanowicz Collection is an important collection of Polish stamps and postal history of 1938-1946 that forms part of the British Library Philatelic Collections where it complements the Kaluski Collection. The collection was formed by Mirosław ...

and complements the

Kaluski Collection The Kaluski Collection is a collection of stamps of Poland that forms part of the British Library Philatelic Collections. It was formed by Janusz Kaluski and donated to the library in 2003 and includes 46 volumes detailing the stamps and postal his ...

Awards

Bojanowiz won many awards for his collection including: *1960 Grand Prix at the Warsaw Centenary Exhibition *1961 Grand Prix of the President of Italy at the Merano International Exhibition *1962 Grand Prix D’Honneur at the Budapest International From 1979 to 1982 he was the first President of the

Grand Prix Club The Grand Prix Club is a club for philatelists Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp col ...

.GRAND PRIX CLUB Communication No 1/2013
Grand Prix Club, December 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2014
Archived here.
/ref> Bojanowicz was survived by his wife Lina (née Balestri), with whom he had two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bojanowicz, Miroslaw 1906 births 1986 deaths Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom Polish philatelists Łódź Ghetto Philately of Poland Signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists